Born to Run
by Bright645
Summary: AU-2x02-After a series of events she feels she can no longer trust her friends so Caroline leaves Mystic Falls. Along the way she meets an old vampire who is up to no good. Then she meets Klaus, who teaches her exactly what it means to be a vampire. [Hiatus]
1. Prologue

******A/N: This is my first ever Klaroline or TVD fanfic, so please be kind to me. ENJOY!**

******Description: AU-Begins during 2x02 when Caroline transitions into a Vampire. After a series of events she feels she can no longer trust her friends Caroline leaves Mystic Falls. Along her journey she meets many new people who teaches her what she needs to know. Then she meets Klaus, a secretive Vampire who teaches her exactly what it means to be a Vampire. **

******Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

**Born to Run**

**Prologue**

_"Baby this town rips the bones from your back,_

_ it's a death trap,_

_a suicide rap,_

_We gotta get out while we're young." _

_Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen _

Caroline Forbes had always been in control, of herself, of others, of everything. However, now she was lying in a hospital bed over an accident she had no control over. The last thing she remembered was Tyler driving then the next second he was clutching his head in pain over a sound that neither her nor Matt heard. The car swerved across the road and Caroline tried to grab the wheel but before they knew it they crashed.

Tyler was on the ground with paramedics standing over him while Matt and Caroline stood by and watched. She wasn't feeling well but she didn't tell anyone, she assured Matt she was fine. The next thing she knew her vision became fuzzy and the darkness took over and she was falling to the ground.

She went in and out of consciousness from the time she arrived at the hospital. There were nurses flying in and out of her room; while Bonnie and Matt were by her side constantly. Caroline heard from the whispers that she had internal bleeding and the doctors did everything they could but they were unsure if she would survive. Before she could open her eyes and protest the darkness took over and she was unconscious once again.

The doctors were standing in her room talking to her mother when she woke up last. Caroline kept her eyes closed and listened to them talk. The doctor was astounded at the progress Caroline had made. She was fully recovered and they were just waiting for her to wake up. Caroline then realized that nothing hurt aside from a headache, she truly was feeling better. She decided against her better judgement and kept her eyes closed, deciding to get more sleep.

A little while later Caroline awoke from a peaceful and dreamless sleep. She had talked to everyone a while ago and was all smiles and had an unexplained amount of energy. Caroline rubbed her eyes and rolled over to turn the television off when she felt another presence in the room. She looked up to see her best friend standing in the doorway; she rubbed her eyes again to make sure she was seeing things right. "Elena?"

"Hey, Caroline." The brunette replied stepping closer to her bed.

"Ughh, what are you doing here?"

"My name is Katherine." She said, she was standing right beside her bed now, leaning down over top of her. "I was hoping you could give the Salvatore brothers a message for me."

Caroline rubbed her temples, she was beyond confused. Her best friend stood beside her bed claiming to be someone else. "What are you talking about?" Caroline added, "What message?"

"Game on."

"What?" Caroline tried but in a quick second a pillow was ripped out from behind her and was forced over her head and being held down.

She tried to fight it, to fight back against the brunette but she was too strong. Caroline tried grabbing at the other girls wrist to try and push her off but her attempts were feeble. She tried to scream but they were muffled against the pillow, no one would be able to hear her. Caroline began to feel the burning sensation as the air was running out of her lungs. Desperately she tried grabbing for another breath, to fight off her attacker but it was no use. Within minutes she was embraced by the darkness.


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

**Chapter One**

Caroline Forbes never believed in the supernatural world. She had heard of old legends from centuries past but never thought anything of them other than they were just tales. She knew she was dead, she felt the air escape her lungs and her head grow heavy and her world close in around her. Dead at seventeen was not what she had expected of herself.

It was strange, Caroline expected her to feel more at peace in the afterlife. That she would see her grandparents and when she did she would hug them and never let them go. But there was none of that. Caroline was alone, floating in the darkness that surrounded her. It was relaxing but had an eerie feel to it all, almost like it was the calm before the storm.

She saw a glow from somewhere close by and a figure stood in the light pulling Caroline towards it. There was a hand outreached and she felt herself being pulled over and grabbed onto the hand. There wasn't enough lighting to make out the features of the person or thing she was holding onto. She watched as the light grew stronger and the darkness faded away. Caroline hesitated about going into the light, knowing this would be the end but the presence urged her forward until she was fully engulfed in the light.

Caroline woke up with a startle, gasping for breath when she bolted upright in bed. She was trying to piece together where she was, by the looks of it, the hospital. Then she remembered the crash that Tyler caused. Caroline thought she was fine, after the surgery she was as happy and energetic as she normally was. If that was true, that why did she have a dream where she was dead?

* * *

Caroline got out of bed and made her way out into the hall and saw a nurse sitting at the station in front of her room. "Excuse me?" She asked the nurse to get her attention when she stepped out into the hall. "Where is everyone?"

The nurse was a dark skinned woman in her middle ages with short brown hair wearing green scrubs. She looked up at her. "It's the middle of the night, hon."

"It is?"

"Mhmm." She nodded.

"Oh. Well, have you seen my mom?"

"She left after dinner with your boyfriend," The nurse added, "And then your friend, Elena, stopped by."

"She did?" The nurse gave a slight nod. "Yeah, she did, but she said her name was Katherine. Can I just get something to eat?"

"Breakfast comes around 7."

"But, I'm hungry."

"You should go back to sleep."

Caroline huffed and turned around to go back into her room. _Well, she was no help._ She turned when she noticed something in the air. "What's that smell?"

"Back to bed." Was all the nurse said before grabbing her pile of charts and walking away.

Caroline stopped at her door and turned around. She took a breath, trying to calm herself when she felt that sent hit her again. As if in a trance, she made her way towards the smell; her eyes were glued to the blood bag that was hanging up in an open room. Caroline was inches from it and she wanted it. The smell that made her throat burn with desire was blood. She reached out to grab it but was interrupted by a voice.

"What are you doing in here?" The nurse asked. Before Caroline turned around she grabbed the bag quickly and hid it under her arm and brought it to her chest.

"I don't know." She replied, looking at the nurse.

"You need to go back to bed." The nurse said.

This time she escorted Caroline back into her room and made sure she was settled before she let. Caroline sat cross legged on her bed with her arms crossed her chest so she didn't see what she was hiding. Once the nurse left, Caroline looked out her window to make sure no one was around before she relaxed and brought the blood bag out of hiding. She turned it over in her hands a few times, getting a good look at it. Slowly, Caroline brought the bag to her lips and took a sip of the blood from the open tube at the top. She choked and threw the bag away from her and onto the floor.

_Disgusting._

Caroline choked a few more times and started freaking out.

_Why did I do that?_

She looked over and found the blood bag sitting on the floor. She could still taste it on her lips and the coopery smell was burning her throat even more. She had an undesirable feeling like she was hungry but all she wanted was blood. Caroline let her body move on its own and made her way towards the bag on the ground. She crouched down and picked up the bag; bringing it to her lips once again she sucked on the tube. The red liquid poured right into her mouth and she felt a sense of relief, the burning had slightly lessened.

Hungrily, Caroline tilted her head back and squeezed the blood into her mouth. She couldn't get enough of it, she wanted and needed more of it. So she made sure she squeezed every last drop into her mouth. When the bag was finished Caroline was disappointed, she felt a high, like the blood was a drug and she wanted more. She stood up from the floor and tossed the empty blood bag into the garbage and hopped back into bed to go back to sleep, pretending that nothing out of the ordinary just happened.

A few hours later Caroline had woken up to the sun shining into her room. She sat up in bed and went to get out but she moved into the light that was shining into half of her room and immediately felt her skin burn. So she sat back into her bed and reached her hand out to test the waters. As soon as it came in contact with the sun it began to burn again and pulled it away. She moved it back into the sun, trying to hold it there for longer but she began to feel the back of her hand burning and blisters begin to form so she pulled it back and hugged it to her chest and felt relief.

When she looked back down at her hand it was healed.

_That's weird._

The door suddenly burst open and Matt walked into the room carrying a tray of food and dropped it on the portable side table that was placed against the wall. "Your Mom said you're not eating." He remarked once the food was set down.

Caroline shook her head. "It's gross."

"It's hospital food, it's supposed to be gross." Her boyfriend replied.

Matt walked over to her bed and leaned into her for a kiss and she followed his lead but noticed that his face was in direct contact with the sunlight. Before she got too close she frowned and pulled back. Matt looked disappointed, like he had done something wrong.

He stood back up and tucked his hands in his pockets. "She also said you're getting released tomorrow morning."

Her ears rang at the words morning. That meant sunlight which meant that burning feeling when it came in contact with her skin. Caroline snapped her head to look at Matt. "Morning? I need to get out tonight."

"No. The carnival is going to happen without you, Caroline. I know it's hard for your neurotic, control freak personality to process but Bonnie and Elena have it." Matt said with a smirk playing on his lips.

Caroline was frustrated with her boyfriend, he didn't understand. "I'm not neurotic."

"Yeah, you are. But it's cute so…"

"Look, it's not about the carnival, okay? It's just that this place is really depressing."

"That's because you're sitting in the dark." Matt said as he made his way over to the widow.

"No, Don't!" Caroline yelled. She saw what he was going to do; he was going to open the curtains so the whole room would be engulfed in sunlight. Without thinking Caroline got up off her bed and sprinted to the farthest wall as soon as he opened the curtains. She had made it there in supernatural speed, one that she didn't understand.

"What the hell?" Matt said when he turned and saw her pressed up against the wall refusing to look at him.

"Just, close it please?" Caroline pleaded, refusing to look into the light knowing that her eyes would hurt.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Close it." Caroline snapped, turning to look at him.

Matt complied and closed the curtains shut and Caroline felt herself relax slightly. The room was darker than before and she had an unexplained feeling of safety in the darkness. She opened her mouth to explain but didn't know what to say to him.

"I'll just come back later, okay?" Matt suggested and Caroline nodded.

She watched from her place, still glued to the wall, as her boyfriend turned and left her room. She hated herself, she could see the questions and confusion in his blue eyes but Caroline had no answers for him. She banged her head against the wall, she was breathing heavily as she sunk to the floor and was hit full force of an old memory she didn't know she had.

_Caroline woke up that morning with a start, she bolted upright in bed. She began to remember events from the night before, of Damon and him biting her. It had to of been a dream, she thought to herself. Her hand slowly felt around the front of her neck before moving to the side. The spot ached when she touched it but there was no blood. Caroline looked over to see Damon peacefully asleep beside her. She began to panic and quickly decided that it was best to get away. _

_Caroline slowly swung her legs over the side of her bed and quietly stood up, trying not to make any sudden movements or noise. She made her way around her bed and almost freaked out when she stepped on a loose floorboard and heard a creak. She looked over to her bed and saw Damon was still sleeping so she continued on towards the door._

_Quietly, Caroline reached out and turned the handle on the door that would lead her out of her room. When she looked back towards her bed it was empty. "Good Morning." She heard from behind her. Caroline spun around to see Damon standing in front of her. Damon smirked at her as she began to panic, scared that he would attack her again._

_"Please…don't" Caroline stuttered as she walked backwards into her bedside table. She felt the lamp on top tumble and grabbed it. _

_"Don't do that." Damon warned as he saw her pick the lamp up. Without thinking, she swung the lamp at Damons' face but he didn't even flinch. Angrily, Caroline threw it to the side and climbed over her bed trying to distance herself from him. _

_Once on the other side of the bed, Caroline picked up a hard object from the other bed side table and threw it at him. He just ducked and the item crashed into the wall and broke into pieces. _

_Caroline made a break for it and ran towards her door but didn't get very far because she felt him move in front of her and grabbed her arms to stop her. He threw her back onto the bed and Caroline tried to think of something else to throw at him. "Get away from me!" She yelled as she threw her pillow at him._

_Damon grabbed it before it hit him and brought it down from in front of his face. "This could have gone a completely different way." He said, and then he noticed the blood stain on the pillow. So he brought it back up to his nose and inhaled the scent. _

_The next thing Caroline saw was his eyes go red and veins protrude from under them. Panic and fear rose within her. This is it; I'm going to die she thought. Damon threw the pillow away and bared his teeth and that's when Caroline caught sight of two very large, inhuman incisors. He made his way towards Caroline and soon he was on top of her holding her down. He used all his weight to make sure she wouldn't get away, and then with one of his hands he moved her head to the side so that the side of her neck was assessable._

_There was nothing Caroline could do, her hands were pushed into the bed and her head was being held to the side. The next second she felt Damon sink his teeth in her neck and her blood painful being sucked out of her. It was a pain unlike any she had ever felt before, so she welcomed the darkness as she sank into an unconscious state from blood loss. _

Later that day Caroline was in the bathroom with a bag sitting on the counter that held all of her belongings. She clipped in her earrings and then put on the heart shaped necklace. When she pulled the hospital gown away the necklace fell onto her skin she felt the pendant burn into her skin. Immediately, Caroline yanked the necklace off and threw it across the room. There was a little red mark on her chest where the pendant had touched and she noticed that it was fading and eventually cleared.

She heard someone come in and pick the necklace up off the ground. "That's pretty." The voice said and she recognized it to be the nurse from the night before.

Caroline looked up in the mirror to see she was right. "Yeah, my friend gave it to me." She replied glancing back up into the mirror to see the nurse place the necklace on a nearby table. She listened for her to leave and when the footsteps receded she stood up and glanced out the windows of her room.

When the coast was clear, Caroline picked up the blood bag that was hiding in the sink and took a long sip. The moment the bag left her lips and the blood was swallowed she felt a slight relief from the burn in her throat. Caroline looked up at her reflection in the mirror and watched as veins lightly appeared under her eyes.

_That was creepy._

Caroline lifted her hand to the place under her eyes where the veins had just appeared. She began to freak out when they came back again, but this time they were darker. Both hands were at the side of her face unsure of what to do. Then she felt a pain in her gums and her hand flew to her mouth. It was unbearable, like something was trying to force its way out of her mouth. When she pulled her hand away and tilted her head back, there were two fangs hanging where her incisors were supposed to be.

Caroline screamed out in pain and jumped slightly on the spot. Her mouth hurt while new teeth were trying to grow in. She didn't understand it and the pain was scaring her.

_What's happening to me? _

"What's wrong?" The nurse asked running into her room.

Caroline whipped around and sprinted towards the nurse and grabbed her by the neck. A second later she had her back pinned against the wall. Her hands were fighting with Carolines' wrist to try and make her let go but she didn't move. "You can't tell anyone." Caroline pleaded with the lady who had a panicked look on her face. The nurses' eyes went wide with fear and Caroline repeated herself, this time with a little more force and authority. "You can't tell anyone."

"I can't tell anyone." The woman replied with a blank expression on her face.

"You'll do what I say."

"I'll do what you say." The nurse repeated as her hands loosened off of Carolines' wrist.

Caroline let her off the wall but her hand remained wrapped around the victims' neck. "Because I'm starving." She felt her fangs drop and the veins around her eyes appeared again. Caroline tilted the nurses' head back slightly and then attacked the exposed neck, biting into it and drinking her blood.

* * *

When Caroline was done with the nurse she sent her on her way, after making sure she didn't tell anyone what she did. She returned to her bed to lay down, the words from earlier were still floating around in her head.

_What's wrong with me?_

Like earlier, Caroline felt part of a memory return to her.

_"What so special about this Bella girl? Edward's so whipped." Damon said from his spot on the bed. He had one of the Twilight books open in front of him and he seemed to be trying to read it._

_"You got to read the first book first, it won't make sense if you don't." Caroline replied while she pulled a pale blue dress up over her hips. _

_"I miss Anne Rice, she was so on it." _

_"How come you don't sparkle?"_

_"Because I live in the real world where vampires burn in the sun."_

_"Yeah, but you go in the sun."_

_"I have a ring, it protects me." Damon motioned to the big ring that sat on his middle finger. "Long story."_

_Caroline was inspecting the bite marks on her shoulder in the mirror. "Will these bites turn me into a vampire?"_

_"It's more complicated than that." Damon said as he put the book down. "You have to feed on my blood then die, and then feed on a human. It's a whole ordeal. This book, by the way, has it all wrong." Damon grabbed Caroline and threw her onto the bed underneath him and she let out a giggle._

_He started trailing kisses from her lips and then down her neck. "You can be very sweet when you want to be."_

_"Yes I can be sweet." He replied, kissing her cheek. When he pulled back the air became serious as he stared down into her eyes. _

_"Are you going to kill me?" Caroline asked, her voice sounding weak and scared._

_"Mhmm, but not yet." _

Caroline woke up with a start; she hadn't even realized she had fallen asleep. Bits of her memory were coming back to her and it was frightening. It was helpful because now she knew what she was, a Vampire. The pieces were starting to come together and the wheels started turning in her head of how this happened.

_Someone gave me vampire blood. Then Katherine killed me. I drank from the blood bag which was obviously human blood. _

_That makes me a vampire. _

She began to freak out, tears rolling down her cheeks; Caroline didn't even know vampires were real until two seconds ago.

_This can't be happening._

_I can't be a vampire._

_What am I supposed to do?_

Caroline struggled with the answers and felt herself slowly come undone. She realized that this wasn't her; she was supposed to be in control of herself, not this weak little girl. So Caroline took a second to compose herself and stop the tears and when she felt better she hopped off the bed and got changed into normal clothes. The sun was setting which meant she would be able to finally escape the hospital that was beginning to feel like a prison.

* * *

Caroline paced around her room as she left a voicemail for Matt. "The doctor said I'm good as new, he signed me out and said I don't have to wait till morning. So, call me when you get this." She hit the end button on her phone and threw it back into her purse. "It's dark, thank god."

She walked over to where the nurse sat on her bed with a white bandage tapped to the side of her neck. Caroline leaned down to take a look at her handy work, she felt a little bad that she had caused harm to the woman but at least she had been nice enough to bandage her up. "I am so sorry about that. " She finally said to the nurse. "Okay, now what's the story?"

"My husband likes to get kinky." The woman replied.

Caroline smiled. "Yes. Good." She stood up and made her way back to the foot of the bed where her purse sat. "So, I'm going to take off. I'm the committee chair for the carnival and I'm worried it's a complete disaster. I mean, God bless Elena but she does not understand the word fabulous." Caroline finished packing her purse and pulled it onto her shoulder and turned back towards the nurse. "Once again, I am so sorry about that and if you could just forget that I bit you that would be great because I'm going."

Caroline was halfway out the door when she heard the nurse speak from the bed. "Forget what?"

She turned and gave a small laugh. "I don't know how that works but it's brilliant." With that she gave a small shrug and smiled as she made her way out of the doorway. She was glad that she was finally allowed to leave the hospital.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

**Chapter Two**

An hour later, Caroline found herself at school after getting released from the hospital. Every single memory that had been taken from her had all came back and she remembered the things that Damon Salvatore had done to her. The halls were dark for no one was supposed to be in the school, but when Caroline saw him go in she figured it was the perfect opportunity to confront him.

"Oh hey, Blondie, they let you out?" Damon asked turning around, a smirk tugging at his lips.

When Caroline didn't say anything, he began to walk away. As soon as his back was turned to her she spoke up, "I remember."

Damon stopped walking and turned around. "What do you remember?"

"I remember how you manipulated me, you pushed me around, abused me, erased my memories, fed on me."

"You're crazy." He replied and continued to walk down the dark hallway.

"Well the memories have been coming back…in pieces."

Her words stopped him and he turned around once again and began to walk towards Caroline. "You can't remember, it's impossible…I mean unless you're becoming..."

Caroline gave a small smirk and a raise of her brow. "I have a message from Katherine." She began as she closed the gap between her and Damon. "She said 'Game On'"

When Caroline went to walk away, Damon grabbed her to pull her back towards him. "Wait."

Caroline was too quick and took him off guard and pushed him back. She watched as he flew through the air and landed ten feet away from her on the ground. "You suck." With that she turned on her heal and walked back out of the school.

Caroline was buzzing, feeding off the energy around her. She had to admit that it felt pretty good to get back at Damon after everything he did to her.

_Maybe this vampire thing isn't so bad._

The next order of business that Caroline had decided on was to find Matt. They hadn't talked since she kind of freaked out on him earlier in the day back in the hospital, but she had left him many messages which went unanswered. She didn't blame him; she had been acting neurotic early. But wouldn't you if you were turning into a vampire and didn't know it?

A moment later Caroline had found her boyfriend standing in front of the ring toss booth. She snuck up behind him and threw her arms around him, hoping to surprise him. "What are you doing here?"

"They discharged me, all better." She smiled.

"Well how do you feel?" He asked hesitantly.

"I feel pretty good."

"Yeah, cause earlier you were a little-"

"I'm all better." Caroline interrupted, giving him a kiss to prove her point. "I'm all better."

"Okay, want to give it a shot?" Matt asked, holding up a small ring.

"Yeah, okay." Caroline responded, taking the ring from him. They turned so they were now facing a large square of bottles facing up. Caroline threw the ring lightly but it ended up breaking a few bottles in the middle.

"Woah…uhm… hey, nice shot, killer" Matt stuttered.

"They must have already been broken." Caroline said, feeling a little embarrassed. Matt pulled her into him, hugging tight.

Caroline's face was in the crook of Matt's neck and she felt her throat starting to burn and the thirst was setting in. "Oh, no." She moaned as she pulled herself back.

"What's wrong?"

"I got to go." Caroline stepped back away from him and took off but Matt followed her. He reached out and grabbed her, turning her around to face him.

"No, Care, wait…are you okay, I mean or do you need to go to the…"

"No, just leave me alone." Caroline said and pulled herself out of his grasp and walked away.

* * *

Caroline almost bit her boyfriend; she felt the lust to just sink her teeth into his neck. It was like she could feel the blood pulsing through him and she just wanted to drain him right there in front of everyone to see. She was walking through the crowd of the carnival when she began to hear whispers. Then the whispers became louder and it was like a hundred people were shouting in her ears all at once. Carolines' hands flew up to the side of her head and were placed over her ears trying to quiet the volume but it didn't work.

She was able to pick up bits of conversations:

_"Did you see who she came here with?"_

_"Thanks for coming with me tonight."_

_"Congratulations, you just won yourself a prize!"_

Everything was overwhelming and became too much to handle; her head began to hurt for the noises only increased in volume. Caroline ran inside the school where the voices were considerably quieter and she began to relax. Then she realized that must have been one of those vampire side effects. Caroline began to list everything that she had discovered about her new self.

_Super hearing_

_Super strength_

_Super speed_

_Mind control_

Caroline decided that she could get used to them, they would probably become handy for when she wanted to sneak out at night. However, there were negative effects she had noticed to becoming a vampire.

_The sun burned her skin_

_The wanting to drain every human in sight of their blood thing_

_The bite, maim, kill urges_

Caroline rounded the corner and could hear the voices from outside grow quieter and she felt immediate relief. Then her ears perked up when she heard someone mention her name from inside the building.

"But why Caroline?" The first voice asked and Caroline realized it was Elena. She felt herself move quietly towards the room where her best friend was and waited to hear who she was talking to.

"I don't know." Another voice murmured sounding like Damon.

"Caroline must be going completely out of her mind; she has no idea what's happening to her." Stefan replied.

"Oh, I think she does. All my compulsion from the past started wearing off the minute she was in transition." Damon said.

"We have to find her." Elena stated.

"Yup, and kill her." The amusement in Damon's voice was evident and she could picture him smirking.

Caroline zoned out, blocking all sounds away so she could think for one second. They were going to kill her, all three of them. Her best friend was in on everything; Elena knew about vampires and never told her about them. There was probably a lot that Elena knew and didn't bother telling her. Then Caroline remembered an encounter with Elena while she was being 'used' by Damon.

_Caroline and Elena were at The Founders Party with their dates Stefan and Damon. They found themselves freshening up when Elena pointed something out on Caroline while she was applying lip gloss._

_"What is that?" Elena asked, pointing to a spot on Caroline that she thought she had covered. Her best friend proceeded to reach out and pull away the see-through cardigan Caroline was wearing over her dress. _

_Caroline shrugged away, "Don't."_

_Elena ignored Caroline and grabbed onto the grey scarf she was wearing and lifted it up. "Oh my god, Caroline, what happened?" The brunette demanded when she spotted the bite mark on Caroline's neck._

_The blonde pushed her friends hand away, trying to shrug it off. "It's nothing, okay."_

_"That is not nothing, did somebody try to hurt you?" _

_"No, it's okay, nothing. It's just; my mom would kill me, okay." Caroline stammered. She looked back into the mirror, trying her best to ignore her best friend, and fixed her make up._

_Elena took advantage of Caroline while her back was turned and pulled away her cardigan to reveal another bite mark. "Did Damon hurt you?"_

_"No, of course not." Elena reached out and attempted to pull more at Caroline but the blonde turned around. "Just, leave me alone, okay, Elena!" Caroline snapped and stormed off leaving her friend standing stunned in the bathroom._

Elena knew everything and she didn't say a word to Caroline. Her supposed best friend knew what Damon was doing to her and she let him. The thought sickened Caroline. They had been best friends since they were babies, Caroline always looked out for Elena and it seemed that she couldn't do the same.

Then there was Stefan, Caroline didn't know him well enough but he seemed like a genuine good guy. So why would he stand around and watch for weeks as his brother abused her, fed on her and then took all the memories away. Who would do something like that? Caroline was disgusted with her friends but she stood still in the hall as she continued to listen in on the rest of their conversation.

"Need I remind you of a tragic little story of a girl named Vicky Donavan? Yeah, Caroline of all people will not make it as a vampire. Her mother's a vampire hunter. Guys, we all know how this story ends so let's just flip to the last chapter and-" Damon started.

"It's not an option, Damon." Elena interrupted.

"No? You're silence is deafening, Stefan. Wait, wasn't there a school carnival the night you staked Vicky? Talk about town history repeats itself. You know I'm right." Damon said.

Caroline had had enough of the conversation; she knew that Damon wanted to kill her but now Stefan too? She was starting to think she wouldn't survive the night. Tears started to stream down her cheeks, along with all the super abilities, her emotions had been all over the place. One second she had been strong and confident and the next she was upset and in tears. With her friends' betrayal fresh in her mind, Caroline took off. She needed to get out of the school and away from the carnival. T all felt too suffocating.

* * *

Caroline needed a break, she was crying and hyperventilating, and needed her space. So she made her way out behind the school where the stoners usually hung out. She thought she was alone but she felt the aching in her throat and the sweet, metallic, copper smell only meant one thing, blood. Caroline turned around to see a man sitting on a flatbed. He had a cloth pressed up against his nose which was bleeding.

She started to cry harder, trying to resist the urge to attack the man. "Hey, is everything okay?" He asked, finally noticing her.

Caroline shook her head slightly, she was giving in to her instincts. "I'm so sorry."

He looked at her confused, "What?"

The next thing Caroline knew was that she was on top of the flat bed behind the man. Her hands were on his head and forcing it to the side, giving better access to the vein in his neck. She could feel his pulse quicken in fear. Caroline couldn't resist the temptation any longer and dug her fangs into his neck. It felt good, too good. She felt powerful and indestructible.

She came up for air once before repositioning herself, but it wasn't doing any good. So she stood up in front of him and threw up backwards so he was lying down. Caroline flashed over to him and was on top of him and soon her fangs were back at his neck. She relished in the warm feeling of blood flowing through her dead body. Caroline couldn't get over how good it felt to drain this man of all his blood.

Caroline felt his body go limp and a few minutes later there wasn't a drop of blood left. His heart had stopped beating, he was dead. She pulled herself off of him and sat down own the flatbed beside the body and broke down crying over what she had just done. It all began to sink in.

_I just killed someone._

Caroline tried to calm herself down but it was almost impossible, she had just killed a man. It was unintentional, but still murder none the less. Her tears stopped flowing and she was able to pull herself together when she heard someone walk up beside her. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see it was Damon Salvatore.

"He's dead, I killed him." Caroline breathed. "What's wrong with me?"

"Hey, it's okay." Damon said soothingly as he rubbed her arm in comfort. "I can help you."

"You can?" She asked, looking over at him.

"Yeah, I have to."

"What are you going to do?"

"The only thing I can do." He reached up and pushed her hair out of her eyes. "I'm going to kill you."

Caroline slid down from the flat bed and was facing Damon. "Please don't…I don't want to die"

"Yeah, but you're already dead."

"No, I'm not. Don't say that, just help me."

"Okay."

"Okay, just help me, please. Please. Please." Caroline pleaded. She felt Damon put his arms around her, pulling her close.

"It's going to be okay." Damon said, rubbing her back soothing the blonde. Caroline took deep breaths trying to calm herself. "It's the only way."

The next thing she knew Damon was on the ground, a wooden steak flying from his hand and Stefan standing in between Damon and her.

"Stefan!" Damon snapped.

Caroline watched the two but a familiar brunette came into view in front of her. She had her hands on Caroline and she pushed her away, "Get away from me, you killed me."

"No, no, no. Caroline, that wasn't me; you know that, that was Katherine." Elena said.

"No! Then why does she look like you? And why, why did she do this to me?" Caroline screamed. Her mind was all over the place and she couldn't think straight.

"Stefan, we got to get her inside."

"It's alright, Caroline, come with me." Stefan said, reaching out his hand for her to grab on to.

"She will die; it's only a matter of time." Damon smirked from his spot a few feet away.

"Maybe so, but it's not going to happen tonight." Stefan replied, grabbing Carolines' hand in his.

"Oh yeah it is." Damon reached down and picked up the stake that was sitting in front of him.

It felt like she was seeing everything in slow motion, but knew that it wasn't. Caroline felt herself get pulled into Stefans' arms and saw Elena step in front of her as Damon came at her, stake raised high ready to kill. When Damon stopped, he was inches in front of Elena, the stake just above her heart.

"Damon, she's my friend." Elena glared at him, willing him to back down.

"Whatever happens is on you."

Stefan pulled Caroline away and turned her so they were ready to go inside, when out of the school comes Bonnie. Her best friend sees her in all her glory, with blood smeared over her face. "Caroline?" She asks, her face clear with disgust. "You're not…you can't be." Bonnie stuttered as she walked up to Caroline and grabbed her arm.

"Bonnie." Caroline tried but her friend shook her head and took a few steps back and notices the guy she killed earlier.

"Oh, God."

"Bonnie." She whispered, but before she could say anything more Stefan was leading her into the school.

Stefan guided Caroline right into a nearby bathroom and she went straight to the sink. She couldn't get the look in Bonnie's eyes out of her head and that made her cry harder. She heard Stefan grab paper towels and wet them and started to wash the blood off her face.

"She hates me." Caroline whispered, her grip on the sides of the sink tightening. "Bonnie hates me."

"No, no."

"And what about Matt?" she cried while Stefan tried to quiet her.

"Let's just get this blood cleaned up, come on." Stefan tried.

Caroline grabbed the paper towel from him and started wiping off her hands. "I'm a murderer. I'm a monster."

"You're emotions are heightened right now, it's part of the transformation. It's completely normal, I promise you." He explained.

Caroline nodded, that explained why she was feeling happy one minute and upset the next. Right now she was upset about everything that was going on but tried to focus her attention on Stefan as he cleaned her up.

Caroline froze, she had stopped listening to Stefan when she heard Bonnie speak. She turned her focus away from Stefan so she could hear what her best friend had to say, "I can't believe this is happening."

"Come on, don't pout about it, we have a body to bury." Damon replied rather cheerfully. "I told you this would happen."

"Damon-"

"No, you should have let me kill her when I had the chance. Who knows who the next person is going to be? It could be you and I'm not going to wait around and let that happen!"

"Damon, you can't kill her." Elena tried.

"This is your fault." Bonnie finally spoke up. "You gave Caroline your blood and now she's a monster."

"I did this because you wanted me to." Damon snapped at one of the girls.

Caroline didn't want to hear anymore, her heart broke. Bonnie hated her, while Damon wanted to kill her. Stefan could have saved her from Damon months ago but didn't and then agreed on killing her with Damon. With Elena, Caroline was just tired of coming second to the princess of Mystic Falls and how everything seemed to revolve around her. She grew angry and ran away from Stefan and found herself in the middle of Damon, Bonnie and Elena.

"Stop it!" Caroline yelled. "Just stop."

"Caroline." Elena reached out for her but the blonde ignored it.

"I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't even know what I was and I didn't even know vampires existed until a few hours ago. Everyone kept me out of the loop, like I wasn't there!" She spat, her anger growing towards her friends. She didn't want to be blamed or killed for something she didn't want.

"Caroline, we did it to protect you." Stefan said, coming up behind her.

Caroline turned towards Stefan. "That's not true! Where were you Stefan? Months ago, you just stood by and watched as Damon abused me, fed on me, then took my memories and threw me away like I was yesterdays trash. How were you protecting me then?"

"Care-"

"Just stop, Elena! You knew what he was doing to me! Remember, the Founders Day Ball? You saw what he was doing and you didn't stop him!"

"I didn't know then, I'm sorry, Care, but we can explain."

"No, I'm done. Damon wants me dead and Bonnie probably does too." Caroline turned to Elena, "I'm done, Elena. So you can go back to living your perfect little life and forget you ever knew me!"

Caroline took the opening, everyone stood rooted in place trying to process everything Caroline had just said, and she took off before anyone could say another word. She listened to see if she was being followed but heard nothing. Caroline was feeling numerous emotions at once. Relief, hurt, regret, and sadness. But she also felt happy and free. Caroline made her way home, navigating the streets in the dark and at vampire speed was a slight challenge but before she knew it she was home.

Her mom wasn't home, probably working a night shift. Caroline got her keys out and unlocked the front door but when she went to step inside she was denied. It was like there was an invisible force keeping her out. She let out a scream in frustration and slumped to the ground. So not only did she have no friends but she couldn't go inside her own house. Then Caroline realized she probably didn't want to go inside since her own mother was a vampire hunter.

Caroline tried to decide what to do next. Stay in town? Leave? Confront everyone? The biggest thing weighing on her mind was the betrayal of her friends, or people she thought were her friends. As far as she was concerned none of them cared about her and none of them were her friends.

There was one thing she knew for certain, if she stayed in town either Damon or her mother would end up killing her.

Caroline grew frustrated the longer she sat on the front porch of her house. She didn't know why she was still sitting there, she knew she had to leave but there was something holding her back.

"Care?" Came a voice from in front of her. Caroline froze, thinking it was someone to kill her but when she looked up it was only Matt.

Caroline sprang to her feet, "What are you dong here?"

"I came to see if today's basket case period expired." Matt said, walking closer to Caroline so he was only a foot away from her.

"You know, you should just go. My mom's going to be home soon." She replied, defeated.

"No, you've been dodging me all day. I mean, I'm more insecure than you are now."

She sighed. "What do you mean?"

"It means that you almost died and it really freaked me out. And it got me thinking, I think I'm in love with you."

Caroline didn't know what to say so instead she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. She felt bad that he needed her to stay with him because he had lost everyone he cared about, but given her circumstances she was in no position to stay. Caroline pulled back and pulled him tight for a hug, her head leaning on his shoulder. She could feel the desire for his blood pulse through her and her throat began to burn, a indicating that she was hungry.

Her fangs dropped down and the veins under her eyes pulsed. Caroline turned her head towards Matts' neck and she could smell the blood rush through his veins. She tried to pull back but found herself moving closer to his neck. Without thinking, Caroline opened her mouth and latched on to his neck, digging her fangs into his skin.

Matts' body tensed under Caroline but soon began to relax as she continued to drink his blood. That's when she heard his heart begin to slow down, fighting to pump blood that wasn't there through his body. Caroline pulled away from Matt and he dropped to the ground. She stood there stunned that she had just attacked her boyfriend. When she reined in what control she had over her vampire urges she ran to Matt.

He looked up at her with hurt and confusion in his blue eyes. Wiping her face with the sleeve of her jacket, Caroline fell to the ground beside him. "Matt, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that, I just don't know what I'm doing." Matt closed his eyes and went limp on the ground.

Caroline didn't know what to do with him, he was still breathing and his heart was still beating, but she knew that he couldn't be left on her front porch. So she picked him up and ran as fast as she could to the hospital. As soon as he was in the front doors of the emergency room she called out to someone and placed him in a nearby wheelchair, knowing she'd get looks for being able to carry a full grown man. Caroline bent down and placed a kiss on the top of his head and whispered to him, "I'm so sorry, Matt."

Once she knew he was in good hands Caroline took off again. This time she didn't go home, instead she made her way out of town.

* * *

**A/N: What'd you think? Would you like me to continue? **


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favourited or followed. I took that as a sign to continue. And so here is the third chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

**Chapter Three**

Caroline found herself standing outside of her father's house. It was late, just past midnight, which meant she still had a few hours left before daylight. Looking around, she noticed she was in a suburban neighbourhood with all the houses looking the same. She hadn't been to his house before; they usually talked on the phone which even then was rare.

The lights were out and the street lamps left little light. However, thanks to her new vampire skills that allowed her to see almost perfectly in the dark. Caroline dragged herself up to the porch and collapsed, another round of tears flowed freely. She tried to process events from the night but found herself having trouble as they all flowed together into one big nightmare.

There were few things she knew about her first night as a vampire. One had been that she discovered everything that Damon had done to her and that Elena and Stefan knew about it. What hurt the most though was that they didn't even bother to stop it; they left her victim to Damon and his games. The second thing she had processed was that Bonnie hated her for unknown reasons to Caroline. Then there was the fact that she killed a man then went home and attacked Matt.

It was safe to say that the night Caroline just had would be able to go down in history as the worst night ever. Not only had she snapped on all her friends, for good reasons, but she ran away from home. Caroline knew her mother didn't deserve to be abandoned and she also knew her mother would probably hate her when she found out her daughter was a vampire.

So after the all the events that occurred, Caroline found herself sitting outside her estranged fathers' home.

Caroline let out a sob, unable to control herself or pull everything together. For once she wanted to fall apart. She had been robbed of that when Damon took away her memories, she needed to heal from all the things he did to her. Caroline also needed to grieve over her own death and the loss of her former life. Caroline just needed to be selfish for once in her life, to stop putting everyone first, and to heal.

"Caroline?" She heard from behind, her father, Bill Forbes.

Caroline turned around and saw her dad standing over her with concern sketched across his face. "Daddy?" she sobbed.

"What are you doing here?"

"I-I-I couldn't stay there. I had to leave Mystic Falls."

Her father bent down so they were eye to eye. "What happened?"

_I Killed someone. Attacked Matt. My friends hate me. _

"Everything!" Caroline cried. "Don't make me go home, please. I don't want to go back."

"Alright, everything's going to be fine." Bill wrapped his arms around her and she leaned into his chest, tears still rolling down her cheeks. "Why don't you come inside?" He pulled her up with him and began to lead her to the front door.

"No!" She screamed.

"Caroline, come inside."

"Daddy, no."

_It won't work_

Bill didn't listen to her and pulled her towards the door while Caroline tried to squirm out of his grasp because she knew what would happen next. She wouldn't be allowed inside and how would she explain that to her father? She didn't know how these things worked.

Caroline stopped right in front of the door, he father looked at her tired and defeated. "What's wrong?"

"I can't." She whispered.

"Caroline, would you please come inside." Bill said and pulled her with him inside. She was surprised and a little confused when she found herself inside the house. "You can stay here for the night; I'll get the guest room ready for you."

"Thanks, Dad." Caroline gave a weak smile, the tears starting to dry up. She watched her father disappear down the hall and went to the bathroom to shower.

When Caroline felt like she had washed all the blood, sweat and tears off her skin she exited the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body. She walked into the guest room to find the bed turned down and a pair of her fathers' pajamas sitting on the end of the bed.

Once settled comfortably in bed, Caroline let out a sigh of relief. She felt safe there with her father and away from Mystic Falls. Her eyes began to close when her father walked into the room. "I'll go get you a change of clothes from home in the morning, okay?"

"Thanks." She smiled and looked up at her dad who was standing in the doorway. "Good night, Daddy."

"Good night, Care." He replied and left, closing the door behind him.

Caroline yawned and looked at the clock on the bed side table.

_2:32_

She was glad the day was finally over; she needed to process the events of everything that had happened. It was hard to believe that just twenty four hours ago she woke up as a vampire. In just one day her life had changed drastically. Caroline couldn't go home. Her mother a vampire hunter. Her friends betrayed her. Bonnie hated her. She attacked Matt.

Caroline Forbes would not be living a normal teenage life any time soon.

* * *

Bill Forbes loved his daughter. He knew he hadn't been the best father over the years, especially after leaving her. He was just going through changes and was confused. He needed to get his life in order before he was a father again. However, that was seven years ago and he regretted every second that he didn't spend with his daughter.

He knew he wasn't the best father, but that didn't mean things couldn't change. He was going to be there for her, he promised himself that. He would take care of her. Which was why he found himself standing on the front steps of his ex-wifes house in Mystic Falls.

Bill hesitantly knocked. He hadn't seen his wife in years and he felt she still held resentment towards him.

When the door swung open he saw his ex-wife, Liz Forbes, looking exhausted with worry etched over her face. He couldn't help himself, "What's wrong?"

"It's Caroline." Liz said and then broke down. "You better come inside.

"Caroline?" He asked confused. The last he knew, Caroline was at his house sleeping, she wasn't in any danger. Bill followed his ex-wife into her house and found two men sitting at the kitchen table.

"Yes, Bill, Caroline, out daughter! She's missing." Liz replied as she sat down amongst the men, Bill followed her lead and sat across from her. One had dark brown hair with electric blue eyes while the other had dirty blonde hair and emerald green eyes. He figured they must have been new friends of his daughter.

"No she's not." He said, taken aback.

"Well she's not here, where else could she be?" Liz asked.

"She's at my house." He responded without emotion. "She came to me last night clearly distressed over something but she wouldn't talk to me about."

"Wait, she's at your house?"

"Yes."

"I don't know what I did to make her leave. It has to be something else that is bothering her. Do you two have any idea what this is about?" Liz questioned the boys sitting at the table. "Damon?"

The blue eyed boy who must have been Damon spoke up, "I think we may have an idea." He smirked to the other man which he replied with a scowl.

"I just came to get a change of clothes for our daughter; I told her she can stay with me until she figures things out." Bill explained as he got up and made his way to Caroline's bedroom.

He was rushing around her room throwing clothes into a duffle bag. When he was finished he walked past Liz and the two men who were still sitting at the kitchen table. Bill looked at Liz to see how worn out she really was, there were bags under her eyes as if she hadn't slept in days. "I'll talk to her and try and convince her to come home."

Liz looked up at him and gave a small smile. "Thank you, Bill."

* * *

It was late afternoon when Bill returned home. He made his way right upstairs and quietly let himself into Carolines' room. The curtains were drawn tight leaving no light in the room so Bill walked over to the window to open them.

As soon as the sunlight came into the room Caroline shrieked in surprise and pulled the covers over her head quickly. Bill closed the curtains automatically, thinking it was a teenager habit to be in the dark. He did leave a sliver of light so he could easily make his way around.

"Care? I closed the curtains." He said as he sat on the edge of the double bed. Caroline reluctantly pulled herself up in the bed and leaned against the head board giving him a sheepish smile. "I brought you some clothes from home."

"Thanks, Dad." Caroline replied, dragging her palms across her eyes to wake herself up.

"Your mother was worried, why didn't you tell her you were leaving?"

"Spur of the moment?"

"Right. So want to tell me what's going on? Did you have a fight with her or someone else?" Bill asked, putting his hand on her leg over top the comforter.

"Something like that." Caroline mumbled. "I got into a fight with all my friends. I just couldn't stand it anymore, they lied to me and so much more. I was just so frustrated, I had to get out. You know?"

"I understand, but you left your mother without telling her where you were. Do you know how worried she must have been?" his voice rising slightly.

"I know, I'm sorry!" Caroline yelled and tears that she had been trying to hold back began to fall effortlessly.

"I'm sorry, Caroline, I didn't mean to upset you. I told your mother you can stay here for a few days but eventually you'll have to go home, face your friends. You can't hide from your problems forever" He said, pulling her into a hug. "How about you get cleaned up and I'll make you some dinner seeing as you've slept the day away."

"Thanks, Daddy." Caroline said as she pulled back and wiped her tears away while giving him a weak smile.

Bill got up off the bed and headed downstairs to the kitchen planning on what he was going to make his daughter for dinner. He hadn't spent much time with her in years and so he had no idea what she liked to eat now.

* * *

Damon followed his brother into the hospital, remembering the last time he was there. It must have been two or three days ago when he gave Caroline his blood so she could heal. Now they were in this huge mess of dealing with a baby vampire on the loose. If his brother had listened to him, Caroline Forbes would be dead by now.

The pair entered Matt's room and saw Elena sitting in the chair beside his bed. She hadn't left his side since she found out that he had been attacked and admitted to the hospital. Elena explained that Matt had severe blood loss and had been brought in by a blonde girl, most likely Caroline. He had arrived right on time, the quarterback would live to see another day.

However, when Matt had woken up only a few hours ago he went into panic mode. He was yelling about Caroline and vampires and would not calm down so the doctors had given him a sedative and had been asleep ever since.

When Elena noticed the two standing in the doorway she immediately jumped out of her chair and rushed to his brother. "Stefan, thank god you're here." She said, giving him a quick hug.

"How is he?" Stefan asked.

"The same, he's slowly regaining his strength, they gave him a blood transfusion so he should be feeling better soon."

"Good" His brother replied as he rubbed Elenas' arms in comfort which made Damon want to vomit.

"Stefan, he's been asking questions…about Caroline. We have to do something." Elena said, her brown eyes wide and hopeful. Then she turned her attention to him. "Damon, you have to compel him."

"I don't have to do anything." Damon lashed out.

"Damon, please." Elena pleaded while releasing her puppy dog look.

Damon relented and moved to stand beside Matt and gently shook him awake. Matt bolted upright in bed, frightened. Damon grabbed him and turned the boy to face him, his pupils dilating, ready to compel. He was focus and prepared for what he was going to say next.

"You were attacked by an animal on your way to visit Caroline. She is away visiting her father and told you not to worry but she doesn't know when she will be back. She broke up with you and you were sad but realized it was for the better. A stranger brought you to the hospital after finding you passed out on the street. You remember nothing of the attack." Damon said and then let go of Matt and he visibly relaxed.

Elena told Matt the three would be right back before ushering them out into the room and into the hall. "What did you find out?" She finally asked once the door was closed.

"She's at her dad's house; we're going there tonight to bring her back." Stefan said.

"Or to stake her." Damon added.

"You're not staking anyone, Damon." Elena glared at him. They had had the talk about what to do with Caroline all night and no one came up with any reasonable solutions. "Just bring her home, in one piece and alive. We'll figure it all out later."

"That is a terrible idea." He shook his head.

"It's the only one we got." Stefan replied. "That doesn't involve killing her."

"Fine." Damon huffed. He knew it was a bad idea, the baby vampire needed to die.

They did not have the time to train a crazy, neurotic, control freak like Caroline. Whatever he thought about the situation would not be hear; his opinions constantly got shot down. So he would close his mouth and wait for the 'I told you so' moment and rub it in their smug faces. Damon smiled to himself of that very thought.

* * *

Caroline got dressed in clothes that her father had brought her. She could hear him moving around the kitchen downstairs and still found the superhuman hearing strange. That something so far away could sound so loud in her ears. Caroline took deep breaths trying to ignore the pounding in her ears from her father clinking pans downstairs.

Once finished changing and dragging a brush through her hair, Caroline made her way downstairs. The hallway and stairs were enclosed which meant no sunlight and she sighed in relief. It would be hard to explain to her father how the sun made her skin burned, or how it magically healed.

As she neared the kitchen, the smell of chocolate pancakes filled her nose. After seven years of living with her father, it brought a smile to her lips that he still managed to remember her favourite breakfast.

Caroline bounced into the kitchen but stopped short when she noticed the room was flooded with light. The sun was setting but it was still enough to set fire to her skin.

_Of course this would happen_

She ran over in her head on how she would enter the kitchen. Could she sprint to the curtains and close them and then back again before the pain set in or was noticed? Or should she just ask her dad to close them?

Caroline plastered a smile on her face and stood in the doorway of the kitchen, a safe place. "You remembered!"

"Of course, I did." Her father looked over and smiled. "Come sit down, they're ready."

"Can you close the curtains? I have a migraine and all this light is making it worse."

He eyed her suspiciously but obliged and walked over to the window above the sink and closed the curtains. There was enough light from the next room that gave the kitchen a soft glow. Caroline smiled her thanks and sat down at the round table in the corner where a plate was already sitting.

Caroline took a few bites and downed a glass of milk and noticed her father wasn't sitting down with her. When she looked up he was standing behind the island in the middle of the kitchen cutting vegetables for his dinner.

"So where's Steven?" Caroline asked.

"In Georgia, visiting his parents." He replied, smiling at her.

Caroline had only met her fathers' partner a few times. They used to live in Georgia but recently decided to move back to Virginia. Now they lived just outside of Richmond, and a half hour drive from Mystic Falls.

"How's work?" She wanted to fill the silence with idle chit chat as she ate her dinner, Caroline Forbes was never a fan of silence.

"Good, Good. How's school?"

"Fine." Caroline shrugged.

"So did you get into a fight with Elena? Or Bonnie?" Her dad asked, looking up from his spot in the kitchen.

She was caught off guard by his question, thinking he accepted her answer from earlier. "Yeah."

"About what?"

"It's nothing."

"Was it about one of those boys? Damon, was it? Or the other one?" He asked.

"No!" Caroline yelled getting angry with the inquisition. "Wait, when did you meet them?"

"They were with your mother when I went to go pick up some of your stuff."

"Oh no." Caroline whispered under her breath.

Just then the smell of blood cut through the room and her head shot up to where her father stood. He was holding his hand tight to his chest with a towel wrapped around it. "Shoot! Caroline, honey, can you get me the first aid kit?" He asked.

Caroline nodded and fought against her urges. She sprinted up the stairs, using her vampire speed, and found the kit in the bathroom then slowly returned to the kitchen. She was fighting with everything she had to try not and attack her own father. It was bad enough she bit her boyfriend, she didn't need a repeat of last night.

She walked into the kitchen and held her breathe as she got closer to her father. When she stood right beside him the smell of blood and the desire for it was overwhelming. Caroline turned away as her father cleaned up the cut that ran along his palm. It was a suspicious looking cut, how would one cut their hand like that while cutting up vegetables.

Breathing through her mouth, Caroline fought hard against the basic vampire urges.

_Why does it have to be blood? Why couldn't it be cotton candy? Or vodka or tequila or something? Why blood? _

Caroline smiled at the thoughts she was thinking, her mind was taken off the fact that there was blood right in front of her.

It only took a moment, but she had let her guard down long enough for the smell of blood to motivate her. Caroline spun around, her vampire features in full form. She felt her fangs drop, the veins under her eyes appear and her eyes darken with desire.

Her father noticed and backed away with fear but she didn't pay him any mind and stalked forward towards him. She had him cornered, he couldn't escape. Caroline reached out and grabbed his hand and pulled it to her lips.

It felt like it had been too long since Caroline had felt the warmth of blood against her lips. It was ecstasy.

However, her high was short lived when she felt a sharp pain in her side. Caroline stumbled backwards and saw a wooden stake, much like Damons from the night before, was lodged. She pulled it out quickly and felt herself begin to heal. She was feeling numerous emotions, anger, fear, remorse.

"I knew it." Was all her father managed to say.

"Daddy, please, I can explain." Caroline reached out to him but he pulled away.

"You're a monster, Caroline." He replied.

"Daddy." Caroline sobbed and the tears took over, streaming down her face. "I didn't want this, I never asked for this."

He looked at her and seemed to be thinking hard about something. "I can fix you."

"You can?" She looked up at him with hopeful eyes.

He just laughed in her face, "No, there is no fixing you, you're a vampire." Her father spat as he ran past her and grabbed the stake and held it to her heart. "The only way to fix you is to kill you!"

She saw what he was planning and flashed behind him. Grabbing his head and pushing it to the side, she exposed his neck. Caroline bit into it hungrily, feeling relief as warm blood circulated through her.

There was a loud commotion and the door soon flew off the hinges. Out of surprise, she had let go of her father and he ran towards the door.

"Let us in." She heard Damon command.

Caroline stood in the kitchen in shock. She had no idea what to do. He was obviously there to kill her. Caroline looked at the ground and saw the stake her father just held was laying there. Caroline quickly picked it up and shoved it in her boot.

"No." Her dad shouted. She walked over to the door to find that Damon and Stefan were standing on the front porch. Damon had an angry expression, blue eyes blazing. While Stefan stood back looking at Caroline with sorrow and understanding.

Damon stepped as close as he could and she watched as his pupils dilated. "Invite us inside." Damon commanded.

"Please come inside." Her father replied, void of emotion, like the nurse from the hospital.

The two stepped inside without any troubles and made their way towards Caroline who was backing away.

"Care, we just came to talk." Stefan said.

"No, you came to kill me." She replied as she turned around and ran as fast as she could to the back door.

"She's right, Stefan." Damon said from behind her. She turned around and saw the two had followed her.

"Damon." Stefan scolded. "Look, we just wanted to talk."

"No, it's a trick!" She yelled and opened the door before sprinting out. She could hear Damon swear a string of curse words while Stefan called after her.

Caroline was lucky enough that at least she had some knowledge of the town she was staying in. She ran right to the forest that rested on the edge of town, hoping the trees would provide some protection. She stopped in the middle of a clearing to take in her surroundings when Damon had come up behind her and grabbed her.

She squirmed against his grasp but he would not let go. When Stefan finally caught up, Caroline was sure that she was going to die. Two against one was not very good odds.

Then Damon was removed from her and she turned just in time to see Stefan throwing him into a tree. A low branch protruded from his abdomen and Damon was stuck there crying out in pain. "Stefan!" He snapped.

"We're not going to kill her, just let me talk to her." Stefan turned to her and she ran.

Caroline knew Damons intentions, they were to kill her. But Stefan she was unsure about, a wildcard.

"Caroline, wait!" Stefan yelled. "I just want to talk."

"Go away." Caroline retorted, looking back as she continued to run.

Caroline came to a stop when she slammed into a hard wall. She looked up to see Stefan peering down at her. He didn't look angry or like he was going to kill her so she didn't try to get away.

"What is there to talk about?" She asked, stepping back a few steps.

"You need to come home."

"Why?"

"Elena's really upset, she needs you, and your transition was hard on her." He explained.

"So you only came to find me because it was for Elena?"

"No, I came here for you too, Caroline." Stefan reached out to her but she backed away.

"Just let me go." Tears were starting to form in her eyes and she tried to furiously blink them away. "I don't want to go home. Everyone hates me and wants me dead."

"Caroline, no one hates you."

"They do! I bit Matt and almost killed him. He probably hates me more than Elena does right now, but not as much as Bonnie!"

"Elena doesn't hate you; she just wants you home safe." He paused and took a step towards her before continuing. "Matt's fine, Damon compelled him so he doesn't know anything other than an animal attacked him." Stefan said.

"Please, Stefan, just stop!" Caroline snapped and her anger began to build. "If I go home I'm only going to die! Maybe not right way but eventually. Damon is going to kill me."

"You'll have a better chance at surviving at home then on your own. You don't even have a daylight ring; you can't control your cravings." Stefan closed the gap between them and held her upper arms so she couldn't escape. "You are going to kill more people than save, you will have to live with the guilt and it will only destroy you. I can't let you live with that pain, I have lived with one hundred and sixty-four years of guilt and I don't want that for you."

Caroline looked up at him and could see the hurt evident in his green eyes.

"Please, Caroline, come home and I'll take care of you. Teach you how to be a vampire and control your urges. You won't feed on anyone or hurt them." He promised.

Caroline could feel herself giving in, wanting everything he had described. Her hand went up to her mouth where there was still blood speared around her lips. She licked them hungrily, reliving her last feed, feeling the blood flow freely into her mouth. It gave her a sense of power which was sweet and addictive. Caroline wanted to live her life the way she wanted.

"I'm sorry, Stefan." She said before pushing away. Caroline quickly grabbed the stake out of her boot and jammed it into his chest. It hit the center of his chest,inches from his heart. She had never done that before and wondered if he would die. She wasn't sure how the whole vampire thing worked out.

Stefan looked at her with wide eyes which were filled with hurt and confusion. She pushed it as far as it could go and pushed him down onto the ground.

"I'm sorry, Stefan. I can't go back to Mystic Falls, it would be best if you accepted that and moved on with your life." Caroline said.

She stood up and took a look around her, there was nothing but trees. Caroline could go anywhere in the world. She closed her eyes and decided on which direction she chose and once she had a destination in mind she took off.

* * *

**A/N: So if you were a young vampire on the run, like Caroline, and could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?**

**I'm open to any ideas you have.**

**P.s. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and don't mind the length. Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: A big thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, followed and favourited. You all are amazing! Enjoy the next chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter Four**

Caroline found herself sitting at a dive bar in North Carolina. She hated that she was only one state over, but there wasn't much time to get very far. After stabbing Stefan she had found a road and pretended to be a hitch hiker. When a car pulled over, she drained the driver and started driving south. Now, Caroline was in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

Before she had arrived in town, Caroline stopped at a little boutique to change her clothes. She used the mind control thing, which she still had no idea about. Caroline was proud of herself, not only had she gotten free clothes but didn't attack the shop owner.

Caroline chose the bar she was at because it was tucked away in a corner, barely noticeable from the main road. It also looked rundown on the outside and there were few cars in the parking lot. When she entered she saw she was right, there were probably ten people scattered around the small room.

Caroline sat at the counter and motioned for the waiter to come over. The bartender was cute, she noted. He was tall with a muscular build, brown hair and eyes.

"What can I get for you?" He asked.

"Shot of tequila, please?"

"Got I.D?"

Caroline frowned, realizing she didn't have her wallet, money or anything. Panic started to rise when she realized she was going to get kicked out, when a thought came to mind. Caroline was a vampire with special abilities.

So Caroline held his gaze, her pupils dilating and began to speak, "I'm over twenty-one, get me a shot of tequila."

The bartender leaned over the counter, "I need to see your I.D first."

So Caroline tried the mind control thing again, with no luck. She growled in frustration, "What's your problem?"

"You're the one with the problem, just show me your I.D" He replied.

"Gabe, just get her the shot." Said a female voice from beside her. When the bartender left, the girl spoke again. "You can't compel another vampire, sweetie."

Caroline looked over at the girl confused. She was young, maybe a few years older than herself, with straight light brown hair and green eyes. She smirked with one eye brow raised. There was something about her that screamed typical mean girl.

"What?" Caroline asked.

"What you just tried to do, it's called compulsion. It only works on humans and Gabe here is a vampire." The female explained. "I'm Brooke, by the way."

"Caroline." She nodded. The bartender, Gabe, returned and placed her shot in front of her with a scowl on his face. Caroline mumbled a thanks and he left again to attend to other customers.

"So you must be new." Brooke said, sizing her up.

"Yeah, I just got to town an hour ago." She blushed.

"No, a new vampire." Brooke laughed and Caroline immediately blushed.

"Oh, yeah, a few days at least."

Brooke's face immediately lit up and a large smile spread across her face. "I love new vampires! Tell me everything that you know and we'll go from there!"

So Caroline went into the full story of how she ended up there and included everything from the carnival to her dad's house to the woods. She chatted endlessly about everything she went through and didn't even know about vampires or what they could do. She explained that she attacked her boyfriend and father and couldn't go home because everyone wanted to kill her.

"That is terrible." Was all Brooke could say.

Caroline nodded and waved to the bartender for another shot.

"I had a similar transition." Brooke said and Caroline's head shot up. "I was born in 1470, in London and transitioned in 1490. That makes me over five hundred years old and I have been on the run for every single day. I know exactly what you are going through, Caroline."

"You do?"

"I do." Brooke smiled. "I found myself in the middle of the woods with the worst headache. I thought I was human still but was experiencing all these side effects. So I went home and killed every single person of my family. It was unintentional, of course. But being a young vampire, it is hard to control your blood lust, as you know."

"What happened next?" Caroline inquired.

"I ran, travelled from village to village tearing people apart and draining their blood. I was lost, didn't know what I was. Eventually I figured out I was a vampire but had no idea how to control myself." Brooke paused, clearly in thought and smiled. "Then I met Rose-Marie and she taught me the proper way to be a vampire."

"Where's Rose-Marie now?"

"We got into a little trouble in 1492 and went our separate ways. I haven't seen her since."

"Wow."

"Yeah, wow." Brooke agreed. "So, what are you doing tonight?"

"Nothing, why?"

"I'm in the mood to party, care to join me?" Brooke inquired, raising an eyebrow.

Caroline took a second to consider her options. She had just met this girl but there was something about her that reminded Caroline so much like herself. It probably couldn't hurt to make a new friend; she could shed the light on everything that a vampire can do. Maybe Brooke could help her.

"Sure, I seem to have a shortage of friends recently." Caroline replied.

Brooke clapped her hands and threw her arms around Caroline, embracing her in a hug. When Brooke pulled back she placed a few bills on the counter and grabbed Carolines' hand and pulled her with her.

"This is going to be great!" The brunette exclaimed as they walked out of the bar into the dark of night.

* * *

Liz Forbes was good at her job and had always put it first; before having a social life, before family and before her daughter. After she divorced seven years ago, Liz had thrown herself into her work. It paid off, she had quickly moved up to Sheriff in a few years. However, her workaholic tendencies came at a price and that was her daughter. They had grown distant over the years and rarely got along.

Just because she hadn't put her daughter first, didn't mean she didn't love her. Liz vowed that when Caroline returned to her, she would do everything in her power to make things right between them.

Liz had the day off after working a slew of late night shifts. She decided to clean the house to help get her mind off Caroline and other things.

There was a knock at the door. She wasn't expecting anyone and her first thoughts immediately went to Caroline and that she was coming home.

When Liz swung the door open she was disappointed. Standing in front of her stood her ex-husband, Bill. Although, he looked different from the day before; his hand was wrapped in gauze and there was a large bandage on his neck. He looked exhausted and defeated.

"Bill? What are you doing here?" Liz questioned.

"It's Caroline."

Her heart stopped and she feared the worst. "What about Caroline?"

"Can I come inside?"

Liz nodded and ushered him inside. After closing the door behind them, they went to sit on the couch in the living room to talk.

"What happened to Caroline?" Liz asked desperately. She felt like she was going to be sick, she didn't want anything happening to her daughter.

"She-she's a vampire." Bill Stuttered.

Liz felt her stomach drop and her heart skip a beat. "No. You're lying."

"She attacked me, Liz. She's not our little girl anymore!"

"No, it has to be a mistake. I'm going to call her, she can come home and we'll sort this out." Liz got her phone out and dialed the number. "You're wrong, Bill. This would never happen to our little girl." She said before turning her attention back to the phone in her hand. It rang a few times before going to voicemail. "Caroline, it's your mother. You're dad's here and we want you to come home. Please, honey, just come home. We love you." With that Liz hung up her phone and put it back in her pocket.

"She's not our daughter anymore. Our daughter is dead." Bill said.

"How could she be a vampire? I made sure to keep her away from all that." Liz felt tears prick from behind her eyes, everything was sinking in. Her daughter really was dead. "This can't be happening."

Bill got up and threw his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into him. She cried into his chest as he tried to sooth her. "Don't worry, I'll get our daughter back and fix her."

Liz shot her head up to look him in the eyes, she saw determination and love shining through his unshed tears. She nodded her head before pulling him into a hug. "We'll get our daughter back." He repeated.

* * *

Caroline and Brooke left the bar; it was a few hours past midnight which meant the streets of Jacksonville were quiet. They were surrounded by few stores and houses but there were mostly large empty fields. As soon as they hit the fresh air, Caroline relaxed. It felt good to be in the open when she felt like she had been confined for the past few days.

A loud ringing erupted from Caroline's pocket and she dug to get it out. She forgot she even had it. 'Mom' flashed on screen and Caroline pressed ignore. Then she saw ten missed calls and a dozen text messages from Stefan and Elena. Out of anger, Caroline threw her phone on the ground and stepped on it, crushing it into tiny pieces.

Brooke looked on in amusement and surprise. "So where you from?" She finally asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"Virginia." Caroline replied. They had been walking the quiet streets of Jacksonville back to wherever Brooke was taking her.

"Ah, so you're not far from home." The blonde shook her head. "What made you run?"

"My friends wanted me dead. I also killed a man, attacked my boyfriend and my dad. So I guess I can see why they would want that, but I mean its not like I asked for this."

Brooke put an arm around Caroline and pulled her close. "You're safe with me."

For the first time since she had turned, Caroline felt safe and trusted her new vampire friend. "I think I believe you." Caroline replied. "You know, when I was human, I had a vampire use me as his personal blood bag, and then he wanted to kill me when I turned."

"What a jerk."

"And my "best friend" and her boyfriend knew what he was doing and didn't do anything about it. How messed up is that?"

"I can see why you ran away now." Brooke laughed and Caroline couldn't help but join in.

"Then they come looking for me to try and convince me to go back. Why would I want to go home when they're only going to kill me? I just want to get far enough away where they can't find me!" Caroline exclaimed, throwing her hands up for emphasis. "But it's hard because of the stupid sun!"

"I'll get you a daylight ring." Brooke said. "Think of it as a welcome to the undead present."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Caroline jumped up and hugged the girl tight.

"You're welcome." Brooke smiled as she pulled away. "You remind me of someone."

Carolines' eyes widened in curiosity. "Who?"

"My sister. She was your age when I killed her, but she was so full of life and pretty too. She would have had the world at her feet if she lived."

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about it, Caroline. It's all in the past. When you're a vampire you become familiar with death, it's all around you." Caroline nodded. "All this talk about death is depressing, lets go celebrate!" Brooke grabbed Caroline's wrist and pulled her along with her to continue on to their destination.

"What are we celebrating?" Caroline asked hesitantly.

"Your transition. Welcoming you to a life of eternity. You now have the world at your feet and you can do whatever you like."

"I like the sound of that!" Caroline smiled.

* * *

"It's your fault Caroline got away." Damon snapped as they walked through the front door of the boarding house.

"What happened?" Elena asked rushing towards the two. When she noticed Caroline wasn't with them she retreated back to the parlour, disappointed. Stefan followed her in and sat beside her while Damon grabbed a drink before joining them. "Where's Caroline?"

"Halfway to Mexico, if she knows what's good for her." Damon quipped.

"What?"

"I'm just saying, after all the trouble she's caused if I ever catch her I'm driving a stake through her heart."

Elena glared at the eldest Salvatore. "You're not killing her." Then she turned her attention to Stefan. "What happened?"

"When we got there she had already attacked her dad. We chased her out into the woods-" Stefan began explaining before getting interrupted.

"Then this idiot pushes me into a tree!" Damon exclaimed, pointing at Stefan.

"What, why?" Elena asked.

"I knew if Damon got to her first he would kill her. I needed to get her alone and talk to her." The younger Salvatore explained.

"Well it obviously didn't work." Damon snapped.

"I had it, she was going to come home. Then at the last second she stabbed me in the chest with a stake!"

"Yeah and that's how I found him, lying on the ground with a stake inches from his heart." Damon rolled his eyes.

"We ran after her, but she had already taken off. She killed a man for his car, so then we had to bury the body." Stefan said. He finally looked over at Elena who had tears in her eyes and he reached out to wipe them away. "We'll find her and bring her home."

Elena nodded.

"I think we got bigger issues on our hands right now, we need to figure out what Katherine is doing back in town." Damon spoke up.

"He's right, Elena. Katherine always has an ulterior motive and we have to figure that out." Stefan added.

"Okay." Elena whispered. "But I'm still not giving up on Caroline."

* * *

"Welcome to my lovely abode." Brooke said, waving her inside. It was a large two story foreclosure.

"Wow." Caroline remarked as she took in the house. Nothing fancy or too extravagant so it wouldn't be sold easily. It had been lightly furnished with a few couches and chairs in the living room.

"Why don't you go shower upstairs while I get dinner ready and then we can start the party! Just borrow my clothes; they're hanging up in the master bedroom." Brooke suggested and Caroline obliged.

The blonde made her way up the stairs to the second floor. There were a few closed doors that she assumed were bedrooms and to her right had two open doors that led into a large master bedroom. All the walls in the house were white, including the bedroom. Brooke had decorated a bit, placing paintings on the walls. A large four poster bed sat against the far wall under a window. A door on the opposite side was open and she could see that it was the en suite.

Caroline found the shower and took her time cleaning up. There was dried blood on her side from where her father had stabbed her, that area was already healed. There were also specks of dried brood around her neck and chest, she hadn't even noticed before. After getting dressed, Caroline noticed make up was on the counter and she quickly applied some around her eyes, using only the essentials.

Caroline threw her hair back in a ponytail, not wanting to deal with taming her curly blonde locks. She threw on a light pink tank top and jeans. Thankfully she and Brooke were the same height and build so she easily fitted into her clothes. After taking a quick look in the mirror to approve of her outfit, Caroline made her way downstairs.

Once downstairs Caroline noticed the house was filled with twenty people, a mix of girls and guys. They were all talking animatedly to one another; something was definitely different about the situation.

"Caroline, finally you're here!" Brooke exclaimed from the middle of the group.

"What is all this?" Caroline asked nervously.

"We're having a party! But we need to address a few things first."

"Like what?"

"Well you're new, so I'm going to teach you the basics of being a vampire." Brooke explained as she grabbed Caroline's hand and dragged her to where everyone was waiting. "Everyone, this is Caroline. Caroline, this is everyone!"

"Hi." Caroline squeaked, giving a small wave.

"Ava, can you come here?" Brooke called out. A small girl with blonde hair and brown eyes walked out and towards the two. When she was close enough Caroline noticed the vacant stare in her eyes. "First, you're going to learn about compulsion." Caroline nodded. "This only works on humans, by the way. You make sure you have their attention, look them right in the eyes and focus. You have to believe exactly what you're telling them in order for it to work." Brooke explained, and then turned her attention back to the girl. Caroline watched as Brooke got right up in her face, pupils dilating. "Ava, stand on one foot."

Just then, the girl stood on one foot. Caroline remembered using compulsion on the nurse or having Damon used it on her. Already, Caroline knew she wasn't a fan of it.

"You try." Brooke nudged her.

Caroline stepped forward and looked into the other girls brown eyes. She felt her eyes dilate as she held her gaze. "You can put your foot down now." Ava complied and stood on both feet.

Brooke clapped her on the back. "Very good. This is useful for getting what you want." Caroline nodded. "Ava, you may step back now. Conner, step forward."

Ava moved back into the group while a teenager, around fifteen stepped forward. He reminded Caroline of Matt; they shared the soft blue eyes and blonde hair. He was tall and lean, with broad shoulders.

Conner stopped just in front of Brooke. "I like the boys, you can have your way with them while you get a bite to eat." She smirked and Caroline winced inwardly, remembering everything that happened with Damon.

Brooke leaned forward and trailed kisses from his cheek to his jaw and down his neck. Then she stopped and bit into his skin but stopped a second later. "You can compel them to be quiet and hold still. I prefer the fight, to see the fear in their eyes. Have a go, Caroline."

Caroline resisted, she didn't want to hurt the kid, especially since he reminded her so much like Matt. But the smell of blood was too strong and her fangs dropped and the veins appeared around her eyes as her throat burned of hunger. She looked the boy in the eyes, "This won't hurt, please stand still and be quiet." He nodded his head and Caroline didn't waste any time and dug her fangs into the open neck wound.

After Caroline had her fill she pulled back to look at Brooke. She frowned at her, clearly unhappy about something. "What's wrong?"

"You didn't drain the boy." The other girl remarked.

"I didn't want to." She replied, beginning to feel uncomfortable.

"Why not?"

"I didn't want to hurt him, he's just a kid."

"Caroline, he is a human and you are a vampire and you need blood to survive. Do you not feel the need to drain the rest of him? The need to kill him?"

"I do, but-" Caroline began but Brooke held up her hand to stop her.

"Then finish the job, we do not waste our meals." She said sternly.

Caroline turned back to the boy and whispered a sorry before she drank the rest of his blood. She heard his heart stop and she gently let him fall to the floor. She felt guilty; she didn't want to kill the kid. Caroline wiped her mouth and turned back to Brooke who had a smirk playing on her lips.

"Humanity is a weakness, Caroline. It is best to remember that."

She nodded, not really sure what that meant.

"You are not a human, Caroline. You are a vampire, as I'm sure you figured out. Let go of who you were as a human and embrace yourself now, as a vampire. Don't feel guilty that you just killed the kid, it's a part of life, a part of who you are. Embrace it. You're humanity will only kill you."

"Okay." Caroline whispered, trying to take in everything she said.

"You'll understand soon enough." Brooke said. "Now, on to our next order of business." She clapped her hands and smiled. " Just a few tips for you and then we can start our party. You and you, come clean this mess up" She said, pointing to two men standing in front. They walked forward and picked up the dead body off the floor and disappeared with it.

"So, when you get injured you heal automatically as long as you have a sufficient amount of human blood in your system." Brooke explained. Then grabbed a pocket knife from her pocket and grabbed Caroline's hand. She dragged the knife along her palm and she yelped in pain. Caroline watched as the cut bled for a second and then healed itself.

"Wow, what else can I do?" Caroline asked, amazed.

"Well wood is a big no-no. If it hits your heart it kills you, anywhere else though and you're fine. Wooden bullets are becoming popular with vampire hunters, so be careful, those are tricky because you'll have to dig them out. Vervain is a herb that weakens a vampire. Humans also take it so compulsion won't work on them. If injected with it you will pass out and it also burns your skin."

"Like the sun!" Caroline exclaimed.

"Yes, like the sun. I noticed you don't have a daylight ring do you?"

"No, what's that?" The blonde asked.

Brooke held up her right hand to a silver ring with a blue stone sitting on her ring finger. "Daylight rings need to be spelled by a witch and it only works with a Lapis lazuli stone; it allows you to walk around in the daylight. I have a witch friend in New Orleans, we can go there if you want and get you one?"

Caroline nodded her head eagerly, "Yes, please!"

"Great! We'll head out tomorrow afternoon." Brooke said. "Now, let's go party!" The brunette flashed to the sound system sitting on the mantel of the fire place in the adjoining room. Music filtered through the house and their guest began to dance. "Come on, Caroline, you need to relax, you've had a busy two days."

Caroline made her way to the kitchen and noticed the counters were lined with bottles of liquor. She picked up a bottle of vodka and opened the cap and took a long swig. She was going to need a lot of alcohol to get through the night. Brooke seemed like a good person and if she was over five hundred years old than she was probably a good person to learn from.

However, Caroline did just meet this girl and knew barely anything about her. Just twenty four hours ago she was in Mystic Falls with her friends and now she was in the middle of nowhere with a stranger. Caroline began feeling a little homesick for not only her home but for her friends and her old life. She took another sip of the vodka and another, liking the burn of the liquid as it ran down the back of her throat.

Caroline contemplated about whether or not she wanted to join the party and turned around to find Brooke standing in front of her. "Come on, Caroline! Come dance with me, let go and just enjoy the party!" The other girl grabbed Caroline's hand and pulled her into the living room where everyone was dancing and having a good time.

A few people were dead on the ground, with gaping holes in their necks. While others had bite marks and were still standing. A lucky few even had been spared. Brooke tugged at her arm and the two started to dance with the ones that remained upright. Caroline downed the rest of the bottle, trying to forget about the dead bodies that were littered on the floor.

Brooke grabbed a girl that was dancing beside them and pulled her close before sinking her fangs into her neck. When she was done she threw the girl towards Caroline and she was forced to catch her. "Have a bite, Caroline." Brooke said.

Caroline tried to resist but the smell of blood was too strong and she finished the girl off and threw her in the pile of dead bodies that had accumulated on the floor. Caroline ran to the bathroom to wash her face and then grabbed a bottle of tequila from the kitchen.

When she returned, the room was quiet. Everyone had stopped dancing and the music was off. Brooke stood in the middle of the room with two guys in front of her. They were obviously brothers; they shared the same dark hair, green eyes and muscular build.

"Brandon, Ben, meet Caroline!" Brooke said, grabbing Caroline's hand and pulling her towards them when she entered the room.

"Hi." She smiled weakly, feeling the tension in the air. One brother was staring at the ground while the other was glaring at Brooke.

"What's going on?" The taller, older looking brother asked.

"Ben, it's nothing, we're just having a party." Brooke replied as she reached out to grab his hand but he pulled away.

"Do you drain all your party guests?"

"It's nothing and you shouldn't even be here." She snapped.

"You said you would stop doing this." Ben sighed, rubbing his hand along the side of his face.

"So I indulged a little, big deal. Besides, Caroline's new, I wanted to show her a good time."

"Brooke-" He started but was interrupted by an agitated Brooke.

"I am five hundred years older than you; you do not tell me what to do. I love you, but you need to back off." She said, stepping closer to him.

"I'm sorry, but this is my home and your home. I'm only trying to protect you."

"It's fine. Look, I'm going away for a few days, me and Caroline have some busy to take care of. You won't have any more trouble from us, I promise." Brooke wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips against his.

"Okay, good. I'm tired of cleaning up your messes." He said before kissing her again. Ben stepped back and looked at Caroline, "It was nice to meet you, I'm sure we'll see you soon." Then he looked at Brooke and smirked, "Bye, babe." Ben turned around and began to walk out the door before turning back around, "Don't forget to clean this up before you go."

"Yeah, yeah." Brooke rolled her eyes and giggled.

The other brother, Brandon, followed Ben out the door without saying a word to either her or Brooke.

When they left, Caroline finally spoke up, "What was that about?"

"Ben's my boyfriend and he hates this stuff, he usually gets stuck cleaning up after me." Brooke explained.

"Is he a vampire too?"

"Werewolf."

Carolines eyes widened in surprise, "Werewolves exist?"

The other girl laughed at Caroline's lack of knowledge. "Yes, sweetie. I'll tell you about that later but right now we better clean up."

Caroline watched as Brooke drained the rest of the party guests but she managed to help carry them outside to the backyard. Caroline was disgusted at twenty dead bodies in a pile, it was something she hadn't seen before. Brooke handed her a shovel and the two began to dig the graves. They dug their hole in silence and when they finished the job Brooke told her to get used to it, that this was her life now.

It was almost dawn when they finished, Caroline retreated back to a guest bedroom while Brooke went to the master bedroom. They discussed their plans for the following day; they would sleep during the day and then make the four hour drive to Columbia, South Carolina. They decided to only travel short distances to take advantage of the nights.

Caroline had never been outside of Mystic Falls and the road trip excited her, even if she wasn't so sure about her new friend.

* * *

**A/N: SO how did you like this chapter? What'd you think of Brooke? I had to choose somewhere close for Caroline to go because she doesn't have a daylight ring, but she will go to all those places you have suggested, I promise. I will add in little sections from Mystic Falls which will be following long the season 2 storyline but I wont go into detail because I feel it's just waste of time because we are here for Caroline!**

**I will be updating this story twice a week on no given day. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, let me know what you thought of it, and if you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them! **


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

It had been three whole days since Liz had seen her daughter and it pained her more than she could express. She had taken days off work in order to work with her ex-husband and track their daughter down.

"Bill, I have something!" Liz shouted from the kitchen after she hung up the phone. She was sitting at the kitchen table with papers scattered across, they held possible locations of where Caroline might be.

"What is it?" Bill almost shouted when he rounded the corner into the kitchen.

"Caroline's in Jacksonville!" She replied enthusiastically, practically jumping out of her seat. "I put an alert out on the car that Alan Hoover, the man she killed and left on the side of the road, well the car was found in North Carolina. I just got off the phone with a deputy."

"Have they seen her?"

Liz frowned, "No, but I faxed them a picture and they said they would keep a look. They also told me that a total of twenty people had been announced missing, they haven't found them yet." Her eyes widened in horror, "Bill, what if that was Caroline? What if she killed those people?"

"It probably was." Bill replied nonchalantly and took a few steps towards her, placing his hands on her shoulders. She looked up into his eyes and saw that they were cold and full of hate. "She's a vampire now, that is what she does. But when we get out daughter back, I will fix her. Trust me."

"What are you going to do?"

"I have a few old family tricks that should work." Bill moved around the table and sat across from Liz and picked looked over all the papers. "Let's just focus on finding Caroline and worry about the rest later."

Liz nodded and picked up a map of the country off the table. There were stickers over Mystic Falls and Jacksonville, the last known places of where Caroline had been. "It looks like she's heading south."

"Jacksonville's only four hours away. I don't think she's taking long road trips, she can only travel at night, so that means she's probably in South Carolina." Bill explained.

"What do we do next" Liz questioned.

"Can you send out her picture to the east coast county's? Tell them she's wanted for a crime and to arrest her if found, or something."

"That's perfect!" Liz exclaimed as she jumped out of her chair and got to work on the task at hand. Focusing on one thing at a time and keeping busy helped her keep her mind off the situation at hand.

She knew a lot of things about vampires; mostly that they were cruel, blood thirsty creatures with no mercy. How was she going to handle her daughter? Liz could barely handle Caroline when she was a teenager and when they get her back she would be a teenager who was also a vampire. She shook her head, trying to get the thoughts out of her head. Right now she needed her focus on finding her daughter.

* * *

"Oh, Caroline." Brooke purred in Carolines' ear. "Wake up, we're here."

Caroline stirred and her hand flew through the air to swat Brooke away. "Where are we?" She moaned while keeping her eyes closed hoping to prolong sleep.

"In South Carolina, silly!" The brunette giggled.

Caroline shot up in her seat, eyes wide and awake. "What, why, how?" The last she remembered was going to sleep in one of Brookes guest bedrooms and now she was waking up in the passenger's seat of an SUV.

"Did you know you're a heavy sleeper? I really didn't want to wake you and I really wanted to get on the road." Brooke said.

"Where are we?" Caroline growled. The whole idea of running away from home was so that she could live out her life the way she wanted to, not to be told where to go and what to do.

"Florence, South Carolina. How about we take a little rest, I'm famished." A smirk danced across the other girls face, clearly enjoying herself.

Caroline folded her arms across her chest and stared straight ahead, watching the road as Brooke navigated the car. She exited off the freeway and pulled into a small parking lot that belonged to a bar. It resembled the one in Jacksonville; small, secluded and deserted.

Brooke got out of the car and Caroline followed suit, feeling a little hungry herself. She looked down and noticed she was dressed in clean clothes, which was a relief because the ones she wore last night had blood on them. Brooke was decked out in head to toe of designer clothes, topped off with a pair of Louboutin heels.

When the pair entered the bar, it was exactly like the one from the night before. Dark and run down were the only words that Caroline could use to describe it. Brooke reached down and squeezed her hand and gave her a small, encouraging smile.

Caroline returned a smile and followed Brooke to the counter and sat down. She turned around on the stool to look around; there was a couple sitting at a table watching a sports game, and two old men arguing farther down the counter. Then there was one guy playing pool, he looked to be in his late twenties and had sketchy written all over him. From the way he was dressed, drank, and even moved.

"That's him." Brooke mused to herself and Caroline noticed she was staring at the guy. "Let's play a game."

"No thanks." She replied before turning around to order herself a drink when Brooke grabbed her arm and forced her off the stool.

"It wasn't a question." Brooke spat, eyeing her down. "You can trust me." Her voice was suddenly low and full of warmth. Caroline looked up into her green eyes, "You need to lighten up, Caroline, have some fun. Just play along."

Caroline complied, giving a small nod, and followed Brooke to where the man was standing, drinking his beer. When they got closer, she took in his features. He had a small snake tattoo on his neck with tattoos all up his arms. The man wore a faded black t-shirt and dirty jeans with an old blue baseball cap. Caroline wanted to gag; there was no way she was going to step anywhere close to this guy.

"Can we play?" Brooke asked when they approached the pool table.

"Sure. You two got names?" He questioned, putting change into the pool table and racking the balls.

"I'm Brooke, and this here is my good friend Caroline." She replied, pointing to Caroline.

"Danny." The man nodded.

"Caroline, why don't you play first?" Brooke pushed her forward and she had no choice.

Caroline scowled and grabbed the pool stick that Danny was holding out to her. She had no idea what her friend was up to; there was a gleam in her eye and a smirk on her face, clearly she was planning something. All Caroline had to do was play along. Maybe she could use that piece of advice to her advantage; play along until she gets her ring and then leave Brooke for good and live her life. After all, it's not like Caroline knew any witches or where to get the stone, she needed Brooke.

So Caroline played pool with Danny while Brooke attempted to seduce him without compulsion. She flitted around him, rubbed up against him, shared drinks with him, everything she could think of. By the end of their game, he was putty in her hands. When he went to the bar to order them drinks Caroline finally turned to Brooke to see her signature smirk in place.

"Wow, I'm impressed, you didn't even have to use compulsion." Caroline said.

"Why use compulsion when I can use my charm and get everything that I want, it's more fun this way." She replied with a wink. "Hell on heels, as I like to say."

Danny returned with three beers and handed the two girls one each. Caroline nodded her thanks before heading to sit down at the counter to let Brooke have her fun.

Caroline sat at the bar drinking beer after beer. She was never one for the stuff but being in such a wreck of a place and in the middle of nowhere she felt it was only appropriate. Also, she didn't want to get trashed. Her main focus was to play along to whatever game Brooke was playing.

A little while later Brooke came strutting up to Caroline and without warning pulled her out the back door of the bar and into an alley. Caroline saw Danny trying to get into a blue 1969 Chevelle. Once Brooke let go of Caroline, she flashed to where Danny was standing and tapped him on the shoulder.

"You startled me." He slurred, clearly drunk off his ass.

"I'm sorry, it's just you never said goodbye." Brooke responded sweetly, looking up at him under her eyelashes.

"Goodbye." Danny nodded and proceeded to attempt to unlock his car.

From the distance, Caroline could tell Brooke was not pleased. The next second the man was pressed up against the side of the bar, her hands on his throat. "That wasn't what I meant." She said through gritted teeth.

Caroline didn't want to see the man hurt and ran over to his side. "Brooke, stop!" She tried pushing her shoulders but the other girl didn't budge. "You're hurting him!"

"We never finished our game, Caroline." Brooke stated as she let go of Dannys' neck but blocked him so he couldn't leave. He looked at the two confused and terrified. "I hate compulsion." The brunette said before biting into his neck without warning. He yelled out in pain and she let go with a smirk on her face. "God, I love it when they scream, it makes everything more exciting!"

Brooke stepped back to watch the man bleed from his wound, there was blood flowing down his neck and onto his shirt. Caroline smelt the blood and it became intoxicating, they were in close quarters and she almost couldn't breathe. Her vampire features came to light, the veins under her eyes appeared while her fangs dropped and her eyes darkened.

"That's it, Caroline. Remember that you are a vampire, it's okay to feel the way you are. To feel hunger, blood lust, to feel like you want to kill. Embrace it." Brooke paused and placed her hand on Carolines' back and moved her forward, closer to the man that stared at them horrified. "Go ahead, finish him off"

Caroline stepped forward, ready to compel him when Brooke placed a hand on her shoulder. "No compulsion."

So the blonde complied and nervously sunk her fangs into the wound on his neck. She felt him squirm around under her and then he stilled and she looked over to see Brooke feeding on his outstretched wrist. After a few minutes his heart stopped beating and his blood ran dry. Caroline stepped back and let the man fall to heap on the ground, staring down in horror.

Caroline couldn't believe she did that, she was beginning to lose count of the people that she had killed. So far her count was five and she felt that was five too many. Brooke seemed indifferent to it all, like it was just another night. Knowing the girl after two days and where she frequented and what she did, it probably was just another night for Brooke.

Brooke stepped forward and slung him up on her shoulder and then into the large garbage bin at the back of the alley. After dusting off her pants and shirt she returned to Caroline and wiped the remaining blood from Carolines' mouth. "Come on, friend, we got one hour of travelling left!" She said as she grabbed her hand and led her towards Dannys' abandoned car.

Once inside, Brooke started the car with the keys she found on the ground. "Columbia, South Caroline, here we come!" She sang as she pulled out of the bar parking lot.

* * *

After an hour drive, Caroline had time to calm down. She was still angry at Brooke for manipulating her like that but didn't show it. Caroline was going to play along. Pretend she was Brooke's best friend and do everything that she wanted in order to get her daylight ring. She would rather not kill another person while on their road trip; it was beginning to feel too much. The weight of all the deaths she caused weighed down on her chest and Caroline couldn't get rid of the feeling.

They had arrived in Columbia, South Carolina and the first place they headed was to another bar. This one was a little sturdier looking, nothing like the ones from previous nights. It wasn't tucked away in a corner; in fact it was on one of the main streets. With it being just after midnight, there were a few teens that were standing outside smoking with a bouncer standing at the doors.

When they entered, it was a large dark and crowded room. Clearly this place was rather popular with people filed around the bar and many more on the dance floor that was located in the middle. As soon as they walked in Caroline had been swooped away from Brooke and went with the flow of people that were headed to the bar.

Caroline shrugged; she needed her space from the brunette. After everything that they had already done tonight, she just needed time to herself. Brooke could be a little overwhelming in single doses. Her buzz from the previous bar had already warn off and so Caroline pushed herself through the crowd that enveloped the bar area.

"Shot of tequila, please." She said to the bartender and he nodded and wandered off to get her drink. Thankfully, it was one of those places where you showed your I.D at the front to get in and never had to show it again. It also helped that Brooke compelled the bouncer so Caroline never had to show any piece of identification in the first place.

The bartender returned with her shot and she realized she had no money to give him. Caroline began to panic and was patting at her pockets when someone slapped down a hundred dollar bill. "That should pay for her drinks for the rest of the night." The mystery man said. When Caroline looked up he had disappeared. What she saw from the corner of her eye was that he was tall and had dirty blonde, curly hair. She made a mental note to find him later.

Caroline downed her shot and then ordered bourbon on the rocks and downed that too. After giving up her futile effort to get drunk, Caroline just compelled the bartender to give her a whole bottle of tequila. She felt guilty, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Besides, the mystery man did pay for her drinks.

Caroline took large sips of her bottle and headed out to the dance floor and began to dance. Letting all her troubles drift away. For those glorious minutes, she wasn't a vampire on the run. She was just Caroline Forbes, having fun, dancing and getting drunk. Nothing troubled her and Caroline was able to breathe for the first time in a few days.

The bottle was finished and Caroline was slightly tipsy. She disliked that now that she was technically dead, it was harder to get drunk. So she returned the empty bottle to the bar and turned back around to dance.

After a few minutes, a man came up behind her dancing. When she peaked over her shoulder, he looked to be twenty. He was attractive with brown hair and eyes but nothing special. Caroline turned back around and continued dancing. She felt his hands land on her hips and his chest against her back.

The close contact reminded her of Matt. They never danced this way before, but she missed his hugs and him holding her or comforting her. In general she just missed her boyfriend. Caroline was about to pull away when she felt Brooke's hand on her wrist and she was yanking her away.

"We have to get out of here." She yelled over the music. Caroline stopped, she wanted an explanation. "Now!" Brooke snapped and pulled her towards the door.

Caroline turned her head back to the guy she was dancing with and noticed he had already moved onto another girl. She was about to turn back around when she caught sight of someone staring at her from the bar. It was a man with curly, dirty blonde hair. He had intense dark eyes that were burning into hers. She attempted to take in more of his features but a painful yank from Brooke had her head snapped back around.

They were outside the bar into the cool night air but Brooke hadn't let go and was dragging her towards their car.

Once safely inside and on the road, Brooke finally spoke up after five minutes of deadly silence. "Change of plans, we're going to Chicago."

Caroline gave her a skeptical look, "Why?"

"Because I said so!" The brunette snapped from the driver's seat.

"I don't understand."

"We're going to Chicago because I said so." She repeated.

"What about my ring?" Caroline asked.

"I'll get you your ring if you stop asking questions!" Brooke said, raising her voice.

Caroline shut her mouth and stared straight ahead, watching the dark road unfold before her.

* * *

An hour later, the pair arrived at a small motel that was located on the side of the freeway. It was a small one story building with twenty-five rooms, all leading out to the car lot. Brooke compelled them a room, one farthest away from other people. The room was a tiny, dirty thing. The bed sheets on the two twin beds looked like they hadn't been cleaned in months. The walls were stained brown from leaks while the television was a small nineteen inch thing that sat on a TV tray.

"What a dump." Brooke commented when they walked into their room. "It'll do for the night."

Caroline took a seat on the bed and took a look at the clock on one of the bedside tables. It was almost dawn, their night had flown by. It had been busy, filled with travelling, bar hopping and killing. All of which, took their toll out on Caroline.

"I have to deal with a few things, so I'm just going to head out for a bit." Brooke said and turned on her heel and left.

Caroline got up off the bed and closed the curtains before the sun came out. She noticed a phone that sat on the other bedside table and had the urge to call home. Without thinking, Caroline walked over and sat on the bed. She picked up the receiver and dialed the familiar number.

"Hello?" Came a tired voice on the other end.

"Matty?" Caroline squeaked when she heard the voice.

"Care?" He asked with confusion clear in his soft, sleep induced voice.

"Yeah, it's me." She smiled to herself, her heart ached. Caroline truly missed him and the comfort he always brought her.

"Why are you calling me?"

"I miss you, Matt." She whispered, tears starting to fall.

"We broke up, Care." He said harshly.

"What? No, Matt!" Caroline sobbed.

"It's what's best." He replied automatically.

"Matt-"

"Goodbye, Caroline." Matt interrupted and hung up on her.

Caroline sat on the edge of the bed, rattled and crying. She laid down on the bed, not caring if it was clean or not. The tears flowed effortlessly as her dead heart ached for the loss of her relationship. Matt was solid, dependable and someone she could have loved. When she was human, Caroline pictured them growing up, starting a family and living the rest of their lives in Mystic Falls.

Now, Caroline can't have any of that. She will never grow old, cannot have kids and never die. She probably wouldn't even be able to spend a lot of time in her home town for people would be suspicious of her never growing older. Caroline cried harder as she mourned her old life and her life that could have been if she hadn't been turned into a vampire.

Exhaustion took over and Caroline found herself drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Brooke left Caroline alone in their motel room and began to walk. The farther away she was from the girl, the better. She couldn't have her overhear what was about to be done. She found herself behind the motel in a forest. Once she was far enough inside she began to pace back and forth, waiting.

When Brooke felt someone behind her she smiled. "Took you long enough."

"Sorry, I was busy in Mystic Falls." The person said from behind her.

Brooke turned around and saw one of her oldest friends standing in front of her. Long brown, curly hair and brown eyes; five hundred years later and she was still beautiful, manipulative and charming as ever.

"Katerina Petrova, it's been too long!" Brooke yelled throwing her arms around her neck and hugging the other girl.

"Beatrice Stacey!" She replied, squeezing tight.

"I always hated that name, it's Brooke now."

"I agree, you don't look much like a Beatrice" Katerina smirked, "Also, I go by Katherine now too."

"God, you sure have changed! What happened to that innocent little girl back in 1492?" Brooke asked as she pulled back to size up her friend.

"She died when Klaus killed my family. Now, I only care about one thing."

"Freedom." Brooke said.

"Exactly. I'm tired of running after five hundred years."

"Well if you didn't get yourself turned into a vampire, none of us would be running." Brooke snapped.

"I would have been dead if I let him use me to break the curse! Anyway it's Roses' fault not mine. Let's not talk about this anymore, that is in the past." Katherine smiled. "So tell me about this new vampire you have for the sacrifice."

"Few days old, from Virginia, friends hate her so she's on the run. Her name's Caroline-"

"Forbes?" Katherine interrupted.

"Yeah, how do you know her?"

"I was the one that turned her! I didn't expect her to run away; she was who I was going to offer to Klaus. She's friends with the doppelganger."

"This is perfect! How are you doing with the werewolves and the moonstone?" Brooke asked.

"I got the moonstone and working on the werewolf part. I just have to trigger the curse in one of them and should be golden. Although, if that doesn't work we always have your boyfriend." Katherine joked with a wink.

Brooke reacted fast, grabbing Katherine's throat and pinning her to the tree. Her eyes dark and fangs exposed. "You do not touch him, Katerina. I offer up the vampire and nothing else for my freedom."

Katherine pushed Brooke and she stumbled back a few steps, letting go of Katherine against the tree. "I don't get how you could love a human, let alone a werewolf."

"I just do, now let's talk about your little plan." Brooke said, trying to bring peace to the conversation.

"Well, I have the moonstone, the doppelganger, a witch, and soon to be werewolf. You have the vampire. Then I can get in contact with Klaus."

"Sounds perfect."

"You keep the vampire in line; don't let her get away again."

"That was your fault to begin with. I'm always cleaning up your messes, aren't I Katerina?"

"That's what friends are for." Katherine smirked. "I have to go; I have to trigger a werewolf curse."

Brooke stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Katherine. "Call me if there's any change."

"I will, and you be careful of Klaus. We haven't been running for over five hundred years to get killed now."

She nodded, "We'll be in Lexington for a few days, come visit." Brooke smiled, "Goodbye, Katerina."

"Goodbye, Beatrice." Katherine teased.

Brooke gave a small smile and wave before Katherine took off. She was standing in the middle of the forest alone and began to walk back to the motel room. The sun was beginning to rise and she needed to get her rest. By the time night would fall, her and Caroline would be on the road again, to the next town.

She had to admit the girl was growing on her, slightly. She cared about the girl, and wanted her to learn how to be a true vampire, to use her abilities and not feel bad about it. However, it was beginning to feel more like a challenge as she put up a fight with every kill she made. In the end though it was just a game. Caroline would be killed for the sun and the moon curse, Brooke would get her freedom back and to move onto the next vampire to manipulate.

* * *

Katherine woke up in a cave, or something close to it. After returning from her trip to see her old friend, she had attended the masquerade ball to set her plan into motion. It worked; she had the Lockwood boy kill someone which triggered the werewolf gene. However, she found herself trapped by the Bennett witch. After a few being staked a few times, while manipulating the Salvatore brothers and then passing out from the witch, Katherine found herself waking up on the cold wet ground, unsure of where she really was.

The moonstone sat beside her and she ran her hands over the smooth surface. Katherine got up and stumbled to the opening, grabbing onto the wall to hold her weak body upright. When she found the entryway, Katherine proceeded to walk out, thinking it would be that simple. As she tried to take a step over the threshold she was stopped by an invisible barrier. So she took a step back and tried again but couldn't break through.

"Where am I?" She asked weakly when two people stepped before her.

Damon stood before her, emotionless. "Where you should have been all along, I thought you would have learned your lesson by now, messing with a Bennett witch."

"You should have killed me." Katherine whispered with hatred in her voice.

"Death would have been too kind." Damon replied as he stepped forward about to pull a large stone over the entrance.

"Damon, don't! No, no, don't, please." She pleaded as he began to pull the rock into place. "Don't, you need me, Elena's in danger!"

Damon paused, "From who?" He took a long look at her when she didn't answer and narrowed his eyes. "You're lying."

"Why do you think I haven't killed her, because she's the doppelganger, she needs to be protected."

"Then I'll protect her." He said as he began to move the stone into place.

Katherine looked behind Damon to see Stefan standing there, watching on, emotionless as well. "Wait, Stefan, I know where Caroline is!" she saw a flicker of emotion flash across his face.

Damon growled and closed the distance, the stone firmly in place. Katherine stood there and listened, they hadn't left yet, she could hear their breathing and hearts beating.

"I know where she is!" She cried one last time before collapsing to the ground in exhaustion.

* * *

**A/N: Who's the mystery man? What is Brooke up to? Is Katherine going to tell Stefan Caroline's whereabouts? **

** I am so happy to be finishing this chapter! I had been suffering from either writers block or just mentally exhausted, which is why it took a week to get this chapter up. But eventually it just flowed right out. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I would like to thank everyone who has read, favourited or followed and a special thanks to those who reviewed telling me their thoughts or opinions. **

**One last thing, this is for Kacomu because I couldn't message you, but you gave me a brilliant idea, so thanks, also don't hate me for what I;m about to do in the near future. **


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: it's Four am and I'm updating for you guys, please be forgiving of the mistakes and enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter Six**

"Come on, up and at 'em!" Caroline heard Brooke's shrill from the doorway. She heard as the brunette stepped inside the room and pushed open the curtains. Caroline shrieked and dove under the covers. "Oh, don't worry Caroline, its night time."

Reluctantly, Caroline pulled herself up in bed and sure enough it was dark outside, the moonlight shinning in through the window. She watched as Brooke stepped forward to the edge of the bed and yanked the covers off of Caroline. "What are you doing?" The blonde moaned as she dropped her head into her hands.

"You've been locked in here for three days, we're going out. You smell, you need to feed and I want to go shopping, so let's go!" Brooke reached out and grabbed her wrist to pull it away from her face. She didn't let go but pulled her off the bed and pushed her into the bathroom. "I expect you downstairs in an hour!" She yelled from the other side of the door.

Caroline leaned against the door and sunk down to the floor, pulling her knees up to her chest. It felt like everything over the past week had caught up to her, everything from her transition, to adjusting to the travelling and to the end of her and Matt. Once they arrived in Lexington, Kentucky, Brooke had secured them a house, telling her they would be staying here for a while.

So as soon as she as settled, Caroline locked herself in one of the bedrooms and refused to come out. She never ate or talked to anyone; instead she stayed in bed and slept. Brooke tried talking to her a few times but left minutes later, unsuccessful. The truth was that Caroline was tired, of being a vampire. She was tired of fighting with herself, to fight for control of her emotions and cravings.

However tired Caroline was she knew she had to fight for control. That if she lost having control over her life she knew it would be over. Her humanity and self-control were the two things holding her together, if she lost them she would lose herself. So as Caroline sat on the cold bathroom floor, she decided she was going to fight with everything she had. She was going to fight to get the old her back, the Caroline she used to know.

Caroline shot up off the floor and jumped into the shower, cleaning off days worth of grime and dirt. Once finished she looked at her reflection in the mirror and smiled because she still looked like the old Caroline, the human Caroline. A small weight was lifted from her chest and relief flooded over her at the sight of familiarity.

When Caroline was dressed with new clothes, courtesy of Brooke, she headed downstairs. She reached the bottom step and saw Brooke already waiting for her at the front door, clad in leather jacket, skinny jeans and heels. One hand was placed on her hip, the other on the door handle, "Come on, we don't have all night."

Caroline followed Brooke out to their awaiting car. The brunette got into the drivers side while Caroline climbed into the passengers. They drove in silence, like always, when out of nowhere Brooke broke the quiet. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine." Caroline grumbled as she continued looking out the front window of the car.

"You don't feel weak, confused, disoriented?" Brooke asked.

Caroline looked over at the other girl who was looking back at her and she saw concern in her eyes. Caroline quickly looked away and decided not to answer the question.

"You have to feed, Caroline. If you keep this up, you'll go crazy and kill everyone in sight out of hunger. You have to understand that you need blood in order to survive."

Caroline didn't bother responding but understood what Brooke was saying. The rest of the car ride was filled with music, neither girl deciding to talk about the elephant in the car.

Brooke led the way while Caroline followed absentmindedly through the shopping mall.

"Come on, Care, I brought you here to cheer you up!" Brooke exclaimed happily from beside Caroline. "You seem like the kind of girl that loves this type of thing."

Caroline smiled remembering that she used to love spending her time with Elena or Bonnie and spend all day shopping at the mall. On special days they would take trips to Richmond and shop and spend all their money. They would return home with hundreds of shopping bags and laugh when they saw their parents disappointed faces.

"I did." She replied.

"Then lots shop till we drop." Brooke said, grabbing Caroline's arm and pulling her into the closest store. "Or until the mall closes." Caroline let out a laugh at Brooke's eagerness and ability to make all her problems seem smaller.

An hour later they were shifting through crop tops and Brooke let out a disgusted grunt. "I know I'm over five hundred years old, but do these tops really need to show so much skin?"

Caroline shrugged, a smile tugging at her lips. "It's the style now a day."

"I don't understand twenty first century style. In my day girls would wear long dresses and it would be a shame to you and your family if you showed any of your ankle!"

"That must have been terrible." The blonde laughed while riffling through racks.

"Oh, honey, it was." Brooke replied.

Caroline was starting to have second thoughts about Brooke. Somehow, she was really starting to warm up to the girl. It seemed like her emotions were all over the place it was hard to decide if she actually liked or despised the older vampire.

"So how come you ran away?" The brunette asked while they walked back to the car, shopping bags in hand.

Once settled and back on the freeway, Caroline finally spoke up. "My friends wanted to kill me, not all but most of them. I also heard my mom's a vampire hunter so there was no way I would be able to survive living at home. I felt so betrayed by them, they kept everything from me, I wasn't thinking straight I just took off. At first I was scared, terrified, I didn't know anything about being a vampire. But on the other hand I felt something, I felt…"

"Freedom." Brooke finished for her and Caroline nodded. "In time you will see that being a vampire will open up doors for you to learn and explore the world. You are immortal, you will never die. Being a vampire is not a burden but a gift. I only ask that you embrace it."

Caroline nodded and gave a small smile to Brooke. She was going to try embrace being a vampire while she tried to get the old her back. There was nothing she wanted more than being the girl she used to be but she also wanted to make the most of her life while she was a vampire. So Caroline was going to do both.

Brooke stopped the car in downtown Lexington and parked it along one of the side roads. It was close to midnight but the streets were still buzzing with people. They were situated in the beer distract, lined with bars and clubs. Caroline could smell the booze and sweat that drifted off the human bodies that littered the street. The pounding of hearts filled her ears.

"You need to feed, Caroline. I'm going to let you take control on this hunt. I think you're ready." Brooke said from beside her.

Caroline nodded and began to walk, she had no destination in mind but let her feet lead the way. Her eyes caught a man who looked to be thirty; he had dark hair and stubble. The man stumbled and fell to the ground, he was clearly drunk. Caroline rushed over to him to help him up, his breath and clothes smelled of alcohol.

"Thank you, dear." He slurred.

"No problem let me help you." Caroline replied, putting his arm over her shoulder and her arm going around his waist to hold him up.

"You sure are real pretty." The man said as he stopped and leaned over to smell Carolines' hair. He moved a piece behind her ear and moved closer to smell her neck.

Caroline felt uncomfortable with his actions and took a step away but he followed and pressed closer to her. This time he grabbed onto her face and tried to kiss her. Out of anger, Caroline grabbed the mans' neck and forced him into the nearby alley. Her fangs were showing along with the veins under her dark eyes.

She didn't bother to hear his protests and attacked his neck. She felt euphoria and relief and pleasure as she drank the blood. She could feel her strength beginning to return to her. Caroline loved every second of what she was doing; it felt so natural and right. She was so involved in her own thoughts and feelings that she didn't even notice that she had drank every last drop from the man.

Caroline took a step backwards, letting go and watched as he dropped to the ground. There was no heartbeat, he was dead.

"Good job, Caroline. I'm impressed." Brooke said from a few feet away. Caroline turned and saw her standing at the entrance to the alleyway.

"What?" She asked, trying to regain all control over her body as she pushed away her vampire features. She pushed away the urge for more blood, to attack another helpless person.

"You killed him without thinking twice; you gave in to your vampire side. To be honest, I didn't think you had it in you."

"No!" Caroline cried as she rushed towards the man but Brooke stood in her way.

"It's alright, Caroline."

"No, it's not okay!" Tears started to fall from her eyes and Caroline felt hatred not only towards herself but towards Brooke. Caroline looked up to see Brooke with a proud smile on her face and she felt disgusted. Without thinking, Caroline ran off away from Brooke using her vampire speed.

When Caroline finally felt she was far enough away from Brooke she stopped. She had unknowingly led herself to a dinner on the outskirts of town. She looked through the windows to see it was practically deserted and walked in, taking a seat in one of the booths in the corner.

A waiter came over and took her order and left seconds later, all she ordered was a coffee. When the coffee was placed in front of her she drank it slowly, taking her time so she wouldn't have to spend much time at home with Brooke.

"Is this seat taken?" Asked a voice from above her, Caroline looked up and saw Brandon.

"Yeah, sure." She replied, gesturing to the seat across from her. The waitress returned and Brandon placed his order with her. "So what are you doing here?"

"Came for some good food and happened to see you here, thought I'd join you." Brandon shrugged. Caroline took in his features, he reminded her of an older Tyler. Although, he had dark green eyes but they had similar features with dark hair and tanned skin.

"I'm sure you did." Caroline joked, rolling her eyes.

"So the last time I saw you were in North Carolina?" Brandon asked and she nodded. "How's everything been since then?"

"Alright, I guess." She replied, shrugging her shoulders.

"What happened between you and Brooke?"

"W-what?" Caroline stuttered.

"You're not with her, far from your house and looks like you've been crying." Brandon pointed out.

"I got mad at her because she didn't stop me from killing someone. I lost control and killed a man and she stood there smiling all happy and proud."

"You don't want to kill people?" he asked in disbelief.

She shook her head no and looked down at her hands which were folded in her lap. "No, but she wants me to. I just feel like the more I feed off people the more I'm losing myself and I don't want that."

"I know I'm not supposed to say this, because I'm a werewolf and all, but you can still feed off people. You just need to practice control, don't let yourself get carried away and don't let yourself get sucked up in Brooke's games." He smiled reassuringly. "I know how Brooke is, she's manipulative and controlling but she really is a good person at heart. Don't let her get to you, stay true to yourself, Caroline."

"Thanks." Caroline said as a plate of food was placed in front of Brandon who only pushed it in front of her.

"Food helps with those cravings and I also heard you haven't been eating anything the past few days. Eat up."

"You are amazing!" She giggled and dug into her food. The two talked about their transitions. Turns out he had transitioned into a werewolf over a year ago and was going through exactly what Caroline was, although he didn't have the hunger of blood. He explained how his temper always flared and he had trouble dealing with it. Then Brandon told her how he met Brooke and she helped him with full moons and eventually his brother fell in love with her.

Caroline talked a little bit about her friends back home but mostly listened to Brandon, finding his stories of travelling to different packs across the country interesting. He explained the werewolf curse and how he activated it and suddenly Caroline felt that she was better off. She wasn't a slave to the full moon, nor did every bone have to break to transition.

Brandon looked at his watch and she saw his forehead crease in worry. "It's getting late, we better get you home."

Caroline followed him out of the diner after he set a few bills down to pay for her meal. They walked quietly back to his car and drove back to her house.

* * *

Brooke watched Caroline take off and she decided not to follow her that she probably needed time to herself. She knew that the girl wouldn't be foolish enough to take off that she needed a ring and Brooke was her only way to it. So before she headed home Brooke took the man that Caroline had drained and tossed him in the dumpster that sat at the end of the alley. She was never a fan of cleaning up her messes but she would try for Carolines' sake.

When Brooke returned home there was a familiar car in the driveway and she flashed into the house to see Ben sitting on one of the couches watching the news. The news caster was talking about the twenty missing persons in North Carolina and Ben looked angry as he listened. She hesitantly stepped into the room and Bens' head turned around. He got up off the couch, turning off the television and making his way closer to her.

"Hey, sweetie, what are you doing here?" She asked.

"Well, Brandon and I were being blamed on the missing persons and we were forced to leave." Ben replied angrily.

"I'm sor-"

"You couldn't leave at least one person alive, Brooke? Did you really have to kill all of them? That was my home!" Ben yelled slamming her into the wall, holding her by the neck.

Brooke easily switched positions on him, holding him against the wall. "I said I was sorry, now drop it. You two may come with me and Caroline, we are going to Chicago."

Ben pushed her away, "Fine."

"I really am sorry, Ben. I didn't mean to, you know how I get carried away." She said walking closer to him and gently pinned him against the wall.

"I know, sorry for freaking out on you."

Brooke smiled and then crashed her lips on his, trapping him in a passionate kiss. "Besides, having you on the road with me will be so much more fun." She said when she pulled away.

Ben just nodded and pulled her back towards him and quickly reversed their positions so she was pinned against the wall.

A throat was cleared loudly from the entrance of the room. The two reluctantly pulled away and saw Brandon and Caroline standing there looking down at their feet awkwardly. Brooke watched as Caroline looked up at them then to Brandon and then stalked off towards her room. Brandon shrugged his shoulders and made his way to the couch.

Ben stepped away from Brooke and joined his brother on the couch, turning the station to some comedy show. Brooke took her chance to go talk to Caroline.

Caroline was in her room preparing herself to go to bed, she was pulling the curtains closed when she heard someone enter the room. She turned and saw Brooke was standing in the doorway.

"What do you want?" She snarled at the brunette.

"I'm sorry about earlier." Brooke said but Caroline only brushed it off and busied herself with her new clothes. "I only want the best for you, Caroline. When I look at you, I see a younger me, lost and confused. I was trying to help you out earlier. I want you to embrace your vampire side."

"Why?"

"Because when you embrace it you feel powerful and unstoppable. You feel free. I thought you wanted that? Freedom?" She replied.

"I do, but not like that."

"It's the only way, Caroline. Stop fighting who you are meant to be."

"I will always fight it so I don't end up a monster like you! I don't want to kill people for the fun of it; I don't want to kill anyone to begin with!" Caroline shouted and stood up and began to walk towards Brooke who just stood there shocked. "You are a monster and I never want to end up like you!"

"I am a vampire, just like you. You can try to fight it, Caroline; but you soon will become a monster. It is who we are, don't forget that." Brooke said, the ice in her voice cutting through Caroline.

Brooke turned on her heal and flashed out of Carolines' room and out of the house. She was seething with anger and needed to take her anger out on someone. A plan started forming in her mind. She would make Carolines' life a living hell and soon she would cave in to her vampire side. She can't fight it for much longer. Brooke vowed to destroy that girl, make her nothing but a cold hearted murder, just like she claimed Brooke to be.

She had been too nice to Caroline, it was about time that things changed, starting from that moment on.

* * *

"Well hello, Katherine." Stefan drawled as he opened the tomb and saw a frail looking Katherine lying lifelessly on the ground. Her head poked up but soon fell to the ground in exhaustion.

"What did you do to me?" She croaked.

"We had Bonnie speed things up, so your decomposing at a faster rate." Stefan replied, smirking. "But I brought you a present." He crouched down and moved closer to Katherine, making sure he didn't step over the threshold. He opened the bottle and the smell of fresh blood filled the air.

Katherine had enough energy to she moved herself so she was sitting against the wall and reached her hand out. Stefan put the cap back on the bottle and rolled it over towards Katherine. She took no time in scooping the bottle up in downing it all in one shot. The second the bottle was drained and the blood ran down her throat she started coughing and crying out in pain, trying to spit it out.

"Vervain!" She yelled throwing the cup back at Stefan.

"Yes, vervain, Katherine. You see, we know that you ingest it daily and have built up quite a tolerance, but we managed to strengthen the dosage so it is mainly vervain with very little blood." He replied and took out another bottle of blood. "Tell us where Caroline is and I'll give you all of this."

"How do I know it's not a trick?" Katherine asked.

Stefan opened the bottle and took a small sip of the blood. Nothing happened to him, it was untainted blood. He raised an eye brow, "See? Nothing wrong with it, now tell us where Caroline is."

"No." She spat and turned away from him, signalling the conversation was over.

Stefan just pulled out one a gun and took a shot at Katherine, shooting her in the leg with a wooden bullet. She screamed out in pain and Stefan shot her again in the other leg.

"Tell me where Caroline is." He demanded.

"Why do you want to know where little miss perfect is so badly?" Katherine questioned.

"I need to know she's okay and still alive. I need to help her!"

Katherine weakly picked the bullets out of her legs and watched as the wounds tried to heal. "She's much better off where she is than here."

"Just tell me where Caroline is and all this will stop and I will give you fresh blood." He said before shooting her again, this time in the stomach and then one of her hands.

"Stefan, stop!" Elena yelled as she ran down the stairs and towards the tomb. When she saw Katherine laying on the ground bleeding she looked up at him horror stricken. "What did you do?"

"She knows where Caroline is and she won't tell me." Stefan answered honestly.

"So you don't have to shoot her!" She said outraged.

"She has a point you know." Katherine joined in. Stefan shot her a look and she looked away, trying to get the bullets out of her body.

Elena pulled him away from Katherine, "Why are you doing this?" Elena asked.

"We need to find out where Caroline is, I'm worried about her." He replied.

"So you're going to torture the answer out of her?"

"She's not going to tell us if we don't."

"He is right." Katherine yelled from within the tomb.

"I expected this from Damon, but not from you." Elena eyed him and he showed no remorse.

"I'm doing what has to be done to bring Caroline home." Stefan snapped before turning and walking back towards Katherine.

He fired a shot in her right shoulder and then her head. "Where is Caroline?"

"Give me…the…blood first…then I will…tell you." Katherine responded, all previous energy gone as she struggled to take out the remaining bullets and stop the bleeding.

Before Stefan knew what was happening, Elena threw the bottle of fresh blood at Katherine. She in turn squeezed the contents into her open mouth, relishing the feeling of blood trickling down the back of her throat. When finished she threw the empty bottle back at them and smirked as she removed the remaining bullets. "I knew it was animal blood, not quite what I'm used to but it will do."

"Tell us where Caroline is!" Elena demanded.

"Feisty one you have here, Stefan." She said eyeing Elena up and down. "Your dear friend Caroline is in the horse racing capital of America." Katherine smirked and turned, walking farther back into the tomb out of sight.

"We have to find her!" Elena exclaimed, pulling Stefan from his thoughts. He nodded and followed Elena out into the woods.

"Looks like we're going to Kentucky." Stefan muttered.

* * *

The following day Caroline was awoken to Brooke jumping onto her bed signing some song. "Wake up, Caroline, we're going out!"

"Out?" She grumbled from under the covers.

"Yes, to a club! So you get your sexiest outfit on and no crop tops please." Brooke replied and exited after turning on the light to her room.

Caroline tried going back to sleep but was disturbed by another voice. "I wouldn't go back to sleep if I were you, don't know how Brooke will wake you up next." Brandon said.

Caroline pulled the covers down to see him standing in the doorway smirking. He walked in and placed a cup of coffee on the side table and walked back out. "Better hurry, we're leaving soon."

Once Caroline was ready and dressed she made her way downstairs to see Brooke, Brandon and Ben all waiting for her. She gave a weak smile and followed them out the door; being located close to the main strip of bars and clubs in Lexington that allowed them to walk to their destination. Brandon walked with Caroline behind Brooke and Ben who were whispering to each other about what they were going to do to each other later on.

When they arrived at the club, Brandon pulled her right onto the dance floor. They alternated between dancing and drinking. She would compel that they were both of age and he would pay. Then they would take their shot, usually tequila, then return to the dance floor for one song before returning back to the bar.

"Drinking also helps with the blood thirst." Brandon said after their fifth shot of the night.

"I've noticed that. When I drink it seems to quiet down the noises, which is a little relieving, especially being in a place as loud as this."

Brandon nodded and pulled her back into the crowd that was situated on the dance floor.

* * *

Brooke watched from afar as Brandon and Caroline started dancing again. They were preoccupied staring into each other's eyes and took that as her cue. She made her way to the first girl, on the edge of the dance floor and bit into her neck. She took a chunk out of her so that she would bleed freely and the smell would spread. Brooke repeated that with a few other people, making her way closer to where Caroline was dancing.

Soon enough the air was overpowered by blood. To a human it would be a weak smell, barely smelt above the sweat. But to a vampire, the smell was so powerful that it felt like there was blood all around. Brooke smiled proudly at her work and walked back to her post where Ben was standing, waiting to watch it all unfold.

* * *

They were dancing to a Pitbull song when Caroline started to smell blood. It was faint at first but got stronger and was drifting closer to her.

"Do you smell that?" Brandon asked, sniffing the air.

"Yeah." Caroline squeaked. "Blood."

She tried to breathe from her mouth but couldn't. The smell was overpowering all thoughts and soon her throat was burning out of hunger and desire. Her vampire features all showed at once and Caroline couldn't control herself. She found herself walking towards the smell of blood and soon enough she saw a girl with a chunk taken out of her neck, blood flowing out of the wound.

Caroline was about to attack when she felt a strong hand on her arm pulling her back. "Caroline don't. Try to breathe." Brandon said.

His voice brought her back to where she was and she immediately flashed out of the club, finding herself breathing erratically as she tried to breathe in clean air and rein in her vampire features.

"Are you okay?" Asked a man with a British accent.

Caroline looked up, fangs, veins and eyes returning disappeared, and thought the person looked familiar. He had dirty blonde, curly hair and intense blue eyes. She brushed all thoughts of familiarity away and let him lead her to the side of the building where she could catch her breath in private.

"Thank you." She said once she had finally calmed down.

"You're welcome." He smiled down at her.

"Those places can get so crowded, just a little claustrophobic." Caroline tried to explain. She looked up at the man and noticed how attractive he was, especially with a little stubble and smooth skin. "My name's Caroline."

"Nice to meet you, Caroline" He smiled and she felt herself grin in return. "I'm-"

"Shoot! Hide me!" Caroline interrupted as she saw Stefan and Elena walk past the alley. She stepped around him and made her way to the end and looked around the corner and saw that they were gone. She turned back to apologize to the man. "It was really nice to meet you but I got to go!"

She didn't wait for him to reply and took off back into the club. She found Brandon standing with Brooke and Ben along the wall talking amongst each other. Caroline fought against the same overpowering smell of blood that still filled the air of the club.

"We have to go. Now!" She yelled when she approached the trio.

Brooke looked at her confused. "Why?"

"My friends are here, they found me. I really don't want to deal with them so we have to go now!"

"Okay, let's go." Brandon replied and started walking out of the club. Brooke and Ben just stood there looking at Caroline, upset they had to cut the night short.

"Please, Brooke? It's important." Caroline pleaded.

Brooke gave in and followed everyone out of the club and back to the house.

Everyone packed up their things in record time and retreated out of the house to the two awaiting cars. Brooke and Caroline got into their newly acquired SUV while Brandon and Ben got into their truck. Caroline heard that they were going to Columbus, Indiana which was only two and a half hours away.

"Thank you for doing this." Caroline finally said once they were on the highway heading out of Lexington.

"You're lucky I was ready to leave that town. Although, I do know what it's like to be on the run from someone." Brooke replied.

Caroline looked over at Brooke surprised. Then it hit her that a while ago she had mentioned being on the run for over five hundred years. "From who?"

"That's a story for another day." She smiled and continued driving towards Indiana.

* * *

**A/N: So Brooke is up to no good. Is Brandon playing Caroline too? What's going to happen to Caroline next?**

** We're getting closer and closer to chicago! I'm making their travelling very slow going because I want to get a lot done before we reach chicago. I also want to gradually bring Klaus in. A few of you did guess the mystery man right! Thank you for all the lovely reviews, favourites, follows and for reading this story. I truly appreciate it! I love to hear your thoughts so please feel free to tell me. Also if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them!**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

**P.s. I have a question about vampires/werewolves for next chapter, if someone could please help me out that'd be great!**


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thanks for reading, following, and favouriting. Love you all. Enjoy the chapter. **

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

It wasn't her blonde hair or blue eyes or her obvious beauty that drew him in. It wasn't the light that radiated out from her core that blinded anyone nearby. It wasn't the humanity she so desperately clung to. It wasn't her ability to draw people towards her like a moth to light. There were so many intriguing things about this girl, none of which initially drew him to her.

There was a time back when he was still human, over a thousand years ago, when he tried to be a good man. He tried everything in his power to be the best he could be but that was never good enough for his father. He couldn't understand it, how his father could hate him and treat him so differently than his siblings. He tried everything to make it right, to earn his fathers' forgiveness but it was never enough. It was a war between good and evil, him trying to remain pure even against the angriest of hearts.

That was what drew him to the girl, her battle to remain pure. To try and be herself even when the world and everyone around her was telling her otherwise. It was admirable. It was something he, himself, never did. But this girl, barely eighteen years of age had the one thing he never had, and that was hope.

After living over a thousand years and roaming the planet, Niklaus Mikaelson, had a few enemies, a few friends, and a few who were afraid of him. There was one in particular who had captured his interest long ago, Beatrice Stacey. After five hundred years he still sought her out. There were others but he had simply grown bored and visited them sporadically.

However this one girl he couldn't get enough of. It wasn't that he was attracted to her; it was because she made the game so much more fun to play. Cat and Mouse. He was the cat while she was the mouse. It depended on the century, but sometimes he would let her live sometime in one place before showing his face. Then he would watch her pack up her life and move on. Sometimes he was nice and would only visit her every twenty years. Sometimes he would snap her neck or torture her, just for fun.

One needed to make their own entertainment after living for a thousand years. That's all the girl was: entertainment. It kept him in check, to use his skills.

He knew things about her, basic and private things about her life. For starters she killed her own family when she turned. She had a werewolf boyfriend. She had the occasional lover on the side. She wasn't remorseful, savoured her kills. She was vicious and unkind. She had very few friends for everyone that knew her feared her.

So when he found her suddenly have a friend following her around one day it became a shock to him. He was just going to pop into her life and leave again, but when he saw this new girl he simply couldn't leave. He found out her name was Caroline and she was just a baby vampire. She was on the run from her friends and family and needed a daylight ring.

They were headed to New Orleans but once Klaus was spotted one night in South Carolina they had quickly changed destinations; as if to think they could outsmart him. Years of living and hunting taught him of how to live in the shadows. However, once he saw Caroline he could not let her go. He knew he had to plan it perfectly, knowing what her friend had in store; he was going to have to let her fall before he picked her up.

In Kentucky he watched her first real kill, one with no compulsion or control. He saw how she enjoyed every second and then he watched as she fell apart after, guilt flooding her body. In that moment he wanted to go to her and make everything better, to go against his nature and comfort her. So when he followed her to the club and watched her leave, mid panic attack, he knew it was the right time to act.

Interacting with her, even for two seconds was something he would remember always. The way she looked and looked at him. He wanted to know more about her; her fears, her dreams, her desires and her wishes. Which was why he had followed them to Indiana.

* * *

Caroline awoke to the smell of blood for the fifth day in a row. It was always the same thing; Brooke standing over her bed with a person who had a gaping wound on their arm which happened to trickle down onto Caroline. Each day she would push the other girl out of the way and head straight into her bathroom to prepare for the night. When Caroline came out, the person was left bleeding on the carpet but she wouldn't touch it. When they returned home in the morning the person and blood stain was always gone, presumably because of Brandon.

However the fifth day was different. Caroline had starved herself of what she needed most, like she had done days before. After her last kill, she didn't trust herself to feed so she didn't. It also didn't help that Brooke was dangling what Caroline wanted most in front of her nose. So when Brooke left the body bleeding on the floor, Caroline sunk to her knees in front of the girl.

She didn't bother to pay attention to the person lying in front of her, knowing that later her face would only haunt her, like the others. Caroline hesitantly raised the bleeding wound to her lips and took enough blood to help her get her through the day. She whispered an 'I'm sorry' and tore open her own wrist and fed her a few drops of her blood to the girl.

Caroline the wound heal in amazement with relief flooding her, thankful that she didn't lose control.

Out of nowhere, a stake ended up in the girls' chest and Brooke standing above the two with an evil glint to her eyes.

"What was that?" Caroline asked, standing up so she was the same height as the brunette.

"I told you Caroline, if you don't kill them then I will."

"Why are you doing this?"

Brooke stepped closer to Caroline so they were nose to nose. "I'm doing this to teach you a lesson."

"What lesson?"

"That no matter how hard you try, you cannot go against your instincts. You are a vampire, Caroline, and you will become a monster whether you like it or not."

Caroline scoffed. "I told you, I will never be a monster like you." With that she turned on her heal and used her vampire speed to get as far away from Brooke as possible.

* * *

"We'll see about that." Brooke said to Carolines' retreating back with a smirk. She looked down at the now dead girl, having not ingesting enough blood she would not return as a vampire. Then she looked at the doorway which lead to the rest of their temporary home and decided to follow after the girl.

Brooke took off after Caroline, not using her full speed so she could follow unnoticed. She watched at a distance as Caroline went to a nearby park and sat down on a bench, staring out at a small pond. An idea came to Brooke and she went to look for the perfect accessory.

There were many people in the park, mostly people walking their dogs or runners running in and out of a small forest by the road. Brooke sped away and into the forest after seeing a runner going in alone. She passed the runner who was a young male and then slowed down to a slow jog. She tripped and fell dramatically when she heard him near.

"Are you alright?" He asked, rushing to her side and offering a hand.

"Yeah, just embarrassed." She replied, accepting his hand and rising to her feet.

Before he could blink she bit into his neck but pulled away quickly, his hand going up to his neck. When he saw blood on his hand he looked at her in horror but she paid no notice. His hand went back to his neck to try and stop the bleeding while she led him out of the forest and into the park.

Brooke stopped him and turned to face the man. "I want you to go over there and give that woman your blood. Don't stop until she accepts and kills you." She compelled; the man nod blankly and walked away. Brooke situated herself on the other side of the small pond to watch and listen to what was to happen next. 

* * *

Caroline was in her own little world, watching the ducks as they swam across the pond, that she didn't hear that someone had sat down beside her. It was the smell of blood that gave away their presence. She stared straight ahead and tried to breathe, forcing her hunger and desires away; using techniques that Brandon had told her about.

"Hello." The person said and Caroline turned to look at him, giving him a small smile. He was young, late twenties and looked to be in running gear.

"You're hurt, can I help you?" She asked, looking away again.

Caroline smelt the blood leak through his fingers and felt him move closer to her on the bench. Automatically Caroline moved away, distancing herself from the man, as if that would help her fight off her hunger.

"Would you like to drink from me?" The man asks emotionless. It dawns on Caroline that he is under compulsion, obviously from Brooke.

"No! You should go home. Now." She tried but the man shook his head.

"I can't, not until you drink."

"You need to go." Caroline said through gritted teeth trying to control herself. She turned to look at the man sitting beside her and he's staring at her with a blank expression, a hand still covering the wound on his neck.

"Please, I don't mind you can have some." He tried, extending his bloodied hand towards Caroline who pushed it away.

When she noticed the man wasn't going to let up, Caroline got up off the bench ready to leave when an unseen force pushed her back on the bench.

"Not so fast, Caroline. The nice man offered you his blood and you're just going to refuse him?" Brooke smirked from beside her.

"Please, I don't mind." The man added.

"He doesn't mind, Caroline. Have a bite."

"No, just leave me alone!" Caroline tried again to get up and leave but a strong hand pulled her back down. "What do you want?"

"You know what I want."

She didn't reply because she knew exactly what Brooke wanted. After a week of the same torture Caroline had caught on. Brooke wanted her to be just like her, to kill innocent people, to become a monster. She was doing everything in her power to no break down and lose herself, trying to hold on to the human girl she used to be.

Caroline looked away, trying to control her breathing and rein in control. It wasn't working; the burn in her throat intensified and felt her fangs begging to drop so she could rip into the wound.

Brooke grabbed onto Caroline's' chin and forced her to look back at her, locking eyes. Intense green eyes staring back at her, one brow raised as if questioning if she was going to be challenged. Caroline watched as Brooke let go and then turned her attention to the man sitting beside her. The brunette pulled the hand away from the barely bleeding wound and wiped off some drops of blood that were running down his neck with her index finger.

She locked eyes with Caroline again as she put the blood stained finger in her mouth and licked all the blood off in a teasing way. She repeated the action, this time she offered her finger to Caroline, running the bloodied finger along her bottom lip before licking off the remains.

Caroline's tongue darted out and she licked the blood of her bottom lip while not able to control her vampire features. The blood tasted good. Too good and she wanted more. The days of starving herself were of no good. The more you avoid something so pleasurable that when you finally have it again you overindulge. That was what Caroline was afraid of but she was doing it to herself.

"Was that good?" Brooke smirked, noticing how she savoured the taste. "You can have more." She grabbed the man and brought him closer to her before tearing into the wound again. When she pulled away there was fresh blood pouring down his neck. Brooke pushed him away and sat back, waiting for Caroline's next move. "He's going to die either way."

By that point the smell of blood was intoxicating to Caroline, she had gone days with that smell but without acting on her impulsions. It was killing her to be sitting so close and to be engulfed in the pleasurable aroma. She was at a war with herself, glued to the park bench, finger nails digging into the seat.

Her brain was screaming at her to work through it, to breathe and ignore what her body was telling her. Her body was burning with desire that she was finding hard to control. More than anything she wanted to say that she could fight this battle, to control her emotions and hunger. However she was finding herself with no energy, it was a losing battle. Brooke was beating her down slowly.

"It's okay indulge, Caroline. This is what you really want." Brooke whispered in her ear.

Caroline closed her eyes and tried to breathe through her nose, thinking calming thoughts, trying to slow her breathing. It wasn't working. The smell of blood was over powering and her basic vampire instincts were telling her to attack and drain every last ounce of the bleeding man.

"Just go for it, stop thinking so much."

Caroline nodded and took a deep breath but it didn't work. All her senses were heightened telling her that she needed to feed. So she acted on instinct, letting her vampire urges do all the work. She flashed off the bench and over to where the man sat. Caroline kneeled down in front of him and dug her fangs into the bleeding wound.

She couldn't control herself as everything was blocked out. There was no sound; she couldn't hear Brooke beside her clapping with excitement or the children across the pond laughing. Caroline couldn't even hear the heart from the human in front of her stop beating. She was upset when there was no more blood left, that she had drained him dry. It wasn't for that she had killed a man; it was because there was no more blood left.

Brooke pulled Caroline to her feet but it was like she was in another world. She was riding her high, relishing on the euphoric taste of blood. She faintly felt Brooke wipe around her mouth removing the evidence. Caroline came crashing back to reality when Brooke had pulled her away and starting talking about the death that she had just caused.

"You know if you just gave in to your basic instincts, we wouldn't be having this problem. So what if you just killed a man? I've told you a thousand times in the past two weeks that your humanity will only kill you." Brooke said, pulling Caroline along with her.

"I killed him." Caroline muttered to herself under her breathe, coming to terms with what she had just done.

"Yes, it wasn't the best kill; you can do better next time." Brooke replied.

Caroline stopped, yanking her arm from Brooke who had also stopped and looked at her confused. "There's not going to be a next time."

Brooke laughed. "There will be, especially if you keep starving yourself."

Caroline felt her blood boil at the brunette's words and now she was seething with anger. "Just leave me alone!" She screamed and pushed past Brooke.

She stopped short when Brooke had appeared in front of her. "No, Caroline, you are mine. You will do as I say."

"I'm not yours! I'm a human being, I'm not some slave!"

"You're forgetting one thing my dear, you are a vampire not a human." Brooke smirked.

"Just, leave me alone!" Caroline repeated.

When she saw Brooke wasn't going to let up anytime soon, Caroline took advantage of her vampire speed and took off away from the other girl. She was stopped mid stride by two swift hands breaking her neck.

* * *

Caroline woke up when she felt someone staring at her. It was Brandon, sitting at the end of her bed. She pushed herself up and leaned against the headboard of her bed and smiled weakly at him.

"What happened?" She asked, rubbing her eyes to try and make herself up.

"Brooke." He replied simply and everything came crashing down on Caroline.

"She killed me, snapped my neck. Shouldn't I be dead or something?" Caroline questioned.

"Only wooden stakes to the heart or a beheading will kill you." Brandon responded.

"Right." She nodded, remembering her first lesson with Brooke. "Where have you been the past few days?"

"Away. Full moon."

"Oh, so how does that work exactly?"

"You have to be born with the werewolf curse but it's not active until you trigger it by killing someone. Then after that you turn on every full moon." Brandon explained with a shrug of the shoulders like it was no big deal.

"Does it hurt?"

"Like hell."

"Who did you kill?" She asked.

"My dad. He wasn't the greatest and when you're born to be a werewolf you have a bad temper. One day he was just wailing on Ben for something stupid and I stepped in and punched him and he fell backwards, hit his head off the fireplace mantel and died. Turned the next full moon." Brandon said and Caroline scooted closer to him.

"Have you killed anyone else?"

"Possibly. Not in my human form but when I'm in my wolf form I have no control over myself." Caroline nodded, looking down at her hands fiddling with each other. "What's on your mind?"

"It's nothing." Caroline shook her head and got up off the bed to change.

Luckily it was still late and the sun wouldn't be up for a few hours so that Caroline could leave the house and get away from Brooke. She had just finished cleaning up and exited the bathroom when Brooke was sitting on her bed with a stranger.

"I brought you an I'm-sorry-I-snapped-your-neck present." Brooke said, getting up off the bed to stand in front of Caroline with her friend. "Peace offering."

"I'm good." Caroline replied, stepping around Brooke and leaving her room.

"Caroline, I'm trying to make amends for the way I have been acting lately."

"Don't bother." She yelled back as she descended the stairs and left the house.

* * *

Brooke watched dumbfounded as Caroline walked right past her and out the door, not even acknowledging that she was apologizing. It was a fake one, only meant to seem like she was trying to mend things between them. She needed that girl to stick around for the sacrifice and making her upset wasn't going to do anything but push her away.

She heard the front door slam shut she turned her attention to Brandon who was sitting on the bed behind her. He eyed her suspiciously, "what are you up to, Brooke?"

"Stay out of it, boy." Brooke snapped, walking closer to Brandon who was now standing.

"You can't compel me." He smirked.

"No, but I'll not only kill you I'll kill your brother and the rest of your family." When Brandon stepped back, raising his hands in surrender she smiled. "I thought so."

Brooke turned back to the human girl standing in the room. The heartbeat and the blood that flowed through her veins filled the room. After everything the human had seen and heard she couldn't be let go. Compelling her would be the most humane thing to do but Brooke wasn't one for humanity.

She stepped towards the girl who was staring blankly at Brooke. Once in front of her she tipped the head to the side and slowly dug her fangs into her neck. She could hear her whimper beneath her clearly in pain. So Brooke bit down, allowing the red liquid flow into her mouth. When she heard the heartbeat begin to slow down Brooke pulled away.

The girl was barely conscious and blood was trickling down her neck from the wound. Brooke pushed her towards Brandon, who was surprisingly still in the room with her. "Take care of it; I have a baby vampire to hunt down." She said wiping the blood from her lips before flashing out of the room.

* * *

"Help me." The girl in his arms whimpered. Brandon looked down into her light blue eyes that were pleading and begging for mercy. When he looked back up, Brooke was gone.

Brandon was beyond angry; he was tired of Brooke and playing along to her every whim. He picked the girl up bridal style and carried her downstairs to where his brother was sitting on the couch watching some movie.

"Take care of your girlfriend's trash." He said and dumped the girl on Bens' lap.

"What the hell?" His brother looked taken back by the barely alive girl. Then he pushed her off his lap and she landed with a thud on the ground.

"This wasn't what I signed up for, Ben."

"I know, but we need her." Ben replied, standing up and stepping over the girl to head into the kitchen.

Brandon followed him and watched as he poured himself a glass of a scotch. "We don't need anyone."

"She knows where the moonstone is, the doppelganger, she knows how to get rid of this curse."

"I thought the Lockwood's had the moonstone?" Brandon asked confused.

"Katherine stole it. Look all they want it for is to give it to Klaus to earn their freedom, we need it to break the curse." Ben stepped in front of him, and grabbed his face. "I will fix this, brother. We won't have to lie with the curse much longer, I promise."

Brandon nodded and stepped away from him and out of his grasp. "I hate this, Ben. I hate everything; I don't think I can do this much longer."

"Just hold on for a little while longer. Our plan will work, we'll break the sun and the moon curse and soon we won't have to turn on full moons anymore. I promise, don this for me, please?"

"For you." Brandon smiled, "You're lucky you have such a great brother."

"I know, I know. What would I do without you, little brother?"

"Probably dead." Both brothers laughed.

"Why don't we go out? Take our minds off things and enjoy the freedom we have for the night." Ben suggested.

"Sure, where to?"

Ben threw his arm around Brandons' shoulder and led him out of the house. "I think I have an idea."

* * *

Klaus had been keeping to himself while in Indiana. He had compelled a younger vampire to watch over the girl and report back to him with any news. That way he would remain unseen and wouldn't risk her taking off again. He heard about how her week had been down to every little detail. Each day he was starting to learn more about her, but he was itching to meet her. To see her again.

He finally got his chance when he found out she had run off on her own and was sitting in the park. The same park where she had killed the man earlier Klaus found her on a bench overlooking the pond crying into her hands. He approached her carefully and loudly, making his presence known so he wouldn't startle her.

She didn't acknowledge him when he sat down beside her. After a few seconds he finally spoke, "What's the matter, love?"

Caroline jumped, clearly startled by the interaction. She looked up at him and he saw a flash of recognition in her eyes, probably remembering him from last week at the club. There was something about this girl that drew him to her. She squinted, "do I know you?"

"My name is Klaus, pleasure to meet you, Caroline." He smiled, taking one of her hands and bringing it up to his lips and kissed her knuckles.

"How do you know my name?" she asked, fear in her voice.

"I know many things about you, love." Klaus smirked.

"That's not creepy at all." Caroline rolled her eyes. "You're the guy from the club last week. Wasn't that in Kentucky, what are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" He countered.

"I needed to get away from my…roommate."

"I see, and what's bothering you about this roommate of yours?"

"I can't talk about it." Caroline said, turning away from him.

"How about we go for a walk? It'll help you get your mind off things." Klaus suggested, standing up and extended his hand to her. She looked up at him with confusion in her stunning blue eyes. With a huff Caroline stood up, ignoring his hand and walked past him. He couldn't help but stare t her. After everything she had been through and was going through, she still had this positive energy surrounding her.

Caroline stopped and turned around a few meters away. "Are you coming?"

He smiled, "Of course." Without thinking about it he used his vampire speed and flashed to where she was.

"You're a vampire?" She asked slack jawed and eyes wide with surprise.

"Like you, although I am a little older." Klaus smirked, knowing exactly how many years older he was than her. With one hand behind his back, he extended his other as to signal for them to begin their walk.

They walked along one of the paths of that the park had to offer, one that would lead them around and through a forest. They walked in silence, her staring directly ahead of him, lost in thought. This gave him time to study her more, this time from up close.

He noticed another thing that he found drew him to her. It was her innocence. She was new to the world, barely eighteen years; she was fragile and saw the world in differently than him. All Klaus wanted to do was protect her from not only herself and others but from how ruthless the world could be.

"Can I ask you something?" She questioned out of the blue.

"Of course." He smiled down at her.

Caroline looked up at him, her blue eyes narrowed. "Are you going to stalk me the rest of this road trip?"

"Possibly." Klaus smirked.

"Why don't you join us?" She asked then her eyes widened in shock and her hand flew up to her mouth. "I can't believe I just asked you that; I don't even know you! You could be some crazy vampire who eat baby vampires like me for breakfast! Although if you were like that I'm sure you'd get along with Brooke just fine, she's crazy. I don't even know why I'm still tagging along with her." She rambled.

"It's fine." He said, stopping and placing a hand on her shoulder to stop her as well. "I have things to do but I'll meet up with you in Chicago."

"How do you know we're going to Chicago?"

"I'm very old, Caroline, I know many things. One of them being that you're going there to get a daylight right from a friend of mine, Gloria. Once you get it, how about you and I go on a little road trip of our own?" Klaus suggested.

"I don't even know you! Why would I go anywhere with you?" She practically shouted, outraged at his proposal.

Klaus ignored her defensive stature, in position to take off if necessary and closed the gap between them. He pushed a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "There's a whole world out there waiting for you, great cities, art and music, genuine beauty. You can have all of it." Klaus whispered, giving a small smile. "I can show you all of it. All you have to do is ask." He stepped back, giving her room. "I will see you in Chicago, Caroline."

Without waiting to hear if she had anything else to say, he took off. All he wanted to do was put that idea in her head, that he could show her the world, to protect her. They didn't know each other; they didn't owe each other anything. But, there were things about her that just drew him to her, he couldn't help it. In many ways, it almost felt like he knew everything there was about her just by looking at her and being near her.

* * *

After Klaus left, Caroline stood there in the park trying to control her breathing. She had been practically nose to nose with this man, this very attractive man, a man that offered to show her the world. As ridiculous as it sounded, she would have taken him up on his offer if he had remained standing close to her. All thinking went out the door when Klaus stood within two feet of her.

Then he had just taken off on her, left without barely a good bye.

Caroline shrugged and continued walking down the path that they had started on. She thought about many things, mostly a mix between her parents, Brooke and Klaus. Caroline knew she couldn't go home, that she had to keep running so that took returning home off the table.

Brooke hadn't been that terrible to her so far on their road trip. The girl was a little intense, but that's to be expected when your five hundred years old, right? Maybe once Caroline gets her ring she'll let up, be nicer.

Then there was Klaus, wanting her to practically run away with him. She barely knew the guy; all she had were a few details. There was something about him that made her feel safe. She hadn't felt that in her whole seventeen years of life. Never at home in Mystic Falls. Maybe she could take off with him after she got her daylight ring.

Now that Caroline was a vampire there were so many possibilities of what her future could be. All she had to do was decide what she wanted to do first and where to go. For the first time since she turned, she was happy that she was a vampire, that she had an eternity to discover the world and herself.

Caroline smiled to herself and thought of all the possibilities of her future. For once in the past two weeks, things were looking up for Caroline Forbes.

* * *

**A/N: Looks like it's a race to break the curse. What do you think will happen next? Do you like Klaus? What did you think of this chapter? What do you want to see next chapter?**

**Sorry if Klaus seems a little OOC here, in the future he will return to his normal self. **


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: Not too sure how this chapter turned out, hope you enjoy it anyway. **

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

Caroline woke up the next day feeling more relaxed than she had felt in the past few weeks. As she sat up in bed she stretched her arms and smiled. Her dreams had been consumed of Klaus, the mystery man. She desperately wanted to get to know him but as soon as he appeared he had disappeared.

She shook the thoughts of Klaus from her head and finally noticed that she was not where she had gone to bed. Caroline was in a different room of a different house. She immediately sprung out of bed and rushed downstairs of the unfamiliar house to find no one around. The current house she was staying in was far smaller than the previous locations Caroline had lived in.

Brooke was nowhere in sight so Caroline took the chance to look around. The house was a small two story, probably a foreclosure, which was run down on the inside. The kitchen had no appliances and most of the cabinets were off their hinges. The living room had dusty pieces of furniture that looked like it hadn't been touched in years.

Caroline could hear the cars from outside, it sounded like they were in a city. Her hopes rose, she had finally made it to Chicago. The front door flew open as someone flashed inside. Brandon and Ben followed, closing the door behind them.

"It's about time you're up." Brooke said lazily from the couch, already with a bottle of liquor in hand. Ben sat beside her while Brandon sat on the couch across from the couple. Caroline rolled her eyes and joined them, sitting beside Brandon.

"Where are we?" Caroline asked.

"Chicago." Brandon replied.

"I think we should go out." Brooke spoke up, not wanting to waste time with idle chatter.

"What about my daylight ring?"

"Have you ever been to Chicago, Caroline?" The other girl questioned.

"No." Caroline whispered, looking down at her hands in her lap.

"Let me show you what the city has to offer first, and then I'll get you your ring." She smirked, raising one perfectly plucked eyebrow.

"I'd rather not-"

"Just come out with us, you've been such a buzz kill lately." Ben interrupted.

Caroline looked beside her to see Brandon nodding his head. "Fine." She mumbled.

Brooke clapped her hands together excitedly and jumped off the couch. "We are going to make you look fabulous, and then we are going to get drunk and hit on lots of guys and have a great time!"

Ben scowled behind his girlfriends' back while Brandon let out a low laugh. Caroline followed Brooke back up the stairs and into her temporary room where all their clothes were.

After a quick shower, Caroline sat on the bed while Brooke stood over her applying makeup. Caroline couldn't remember the last time she had gotten all done up to have a fun night out. Sure they had been to bars and clubs on their road trip but she had never put in any effort. It was nice being pampered, especially after everything she had been through in the past two weeks.

"Why are you doing this?" Caroline asked while Brooke was applying mascara.

"You need to have some fun, let go all that pent up anger and frustration that you've been holding on to. Hang with me tonight and I'll show you a good time."

"Okay." She responded. Caroline knew that their night could either be the best or the worst night of her life. There was no in-between with Brooke; she often went from one extreme to the other in two seconds flat. From nice girl to the devil, this often gave Caroline whiplash.

Once Brooke finished with her makeup she shuffled through her suitcase before throwing two pieces of clothing at Caroline. "Try those on."

Caroline obliged and headed into the en suit and changed. She took a look in the mirror and saw that her makeup was heavier than what she was used to. Brooke managed to accentuate her cheek bones and her blue eyes. Her lashes were longer and her lips plumper than usual. It was safe to say that Caroline looked hot.

When she came out of the bathroom clad in a floral tank top and black leggings Brookes' jaw dropped. "You look amazing!" She squealed. Brooke jumped off the bed, throwing a pair of black stilettos at her and left the room. Caroline caught them and threw them on quickly before following Brooke downstairs.

"It's about time." Ben said as soon as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Took you two long enough." Brandon added.

Brooke scowled. "All of this does not take five minutes." She waved her hand over herself and Caroline.

"Let's just go." The older brother snapped, making his way to the door and left the house.

"I guess we're going now." Brooke rolled her eyes and followed her boyfriend outside.

"Couples spat." Brandon laughed and motioned for Caroline to exit before him. "Ready for a good night?" He asked as the left the house, Ben and Brooke were a few feet ahead of them arguing.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Caroline mumbled

* * *

"Stefan, I'm fine." Elena insisted as he led her into her room.

"I know. I just wanted to make sure you're okay." He replied, setting her down on her bed and sitting beside her. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to talk about it? These past few weeks have been a little hectic." Stefan said, resting his hand on her knee.

"I just miss her. I thought we would find her in Kentucky but she wasn't there! Why did she leave?" Elena asked as a tear rolled down her cheek.

Stefan wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his chest. "I don't know, but she'll come back. Mystic Falls is her home and you're her best friend. She'll come around."

"I hope so." Elena murmured into his chest.

"Is that all that is bugging you?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"Elena, you were kidnapped a few hours ago, and held against your will. How can you be alright?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Elena snapped and pulled away from him.

"I'm sorry, I just worry about you." He said softly. "It's been a long day, you should get some rest. We'll talk tomorrow." Stefan watched as she laid down and pulled the covers up around herself. He quietly exited the room after turning off her light and closing the door.

Stefan raced back to the boarding house to where Damon was waiting for him to debrief about their day.

"How is she?" Damon asked the second Stefan walked through the front door.

"A little shaken but won't admit it." Stefan responded as he walked into the parlour and poured himself a glass of bourbon before joining his brother by the fireplace.

"Typical." He muttered. "Did she say anything about what happened?"

"No."

"She was taken by an original vampire and didn't say a word about what he wanted?" Damon questioned, dumbfounded by the turn of events.

Stefan shook his head. "It must have to do with the sun and the moon curse but no, she didn't say a word."

"At least we staked him." Damon said before walking off and leaving the house.

* * *

Klaus had made his way from Indiana to Virginia in record time. He had heard from a reliable source that his brother had sights on the doppelganger and then captured her a few hours later. He made his way into the abandoned mansion to confront his brother and take the girl then return to Chicago.

Of course when he entered the run down house he found his brother staked with a large wooden pole. Elijahs' skin was grey with blue veins, evidence that he was dead. But Klaus pulled the stake out of his chest and colour soon returned.

"Hello, brother." Klaus said when Elijah had finally woken up.

"What do I owe this visit for, Niklaus?" Elijah asked, straightening his suit out.

"I heard you have the doppelganger." He smiled, happy with the outcome of events.

"Had. She got away." He replied somberly.

Klaus was outraged and threw the stake that he still had at his brother. It missed by an inch and jammed into the wall. "What do you mean 'she got away'?"

"A pair of vampires came to retrieve her. They put on quite the show before driving this coat rack threw my heart."

"You are useless. Do you not realize you are an original vampire? How could you let them get the girl?" He asked angrily.

"It was my fault. Next time it will not happen again." Elijah shook his head.

Klaus took two steps towards his brother so he was looking down on him. "If you mess up my plans again, I will stake you myself."

Elijah laughed. "Always with the theatrics, Niklaus."

Klaus pushed Elijah into the wall behind them, holding him up by his neck. "Fix this." He breathed.

His brother pushed him away, stepping out from the wall. "I'm going to Mystic Falls and when the time is right she will be used in the sacrifice."

"I have waited a thousand years for this, brother, you better not mess this up again." Klaus warned before stalking out of the house.

There was so much to do before he broke the curse but he couldn't get the blonde girl out of his head. She was a constant in his thoughts and dreams. He wanted desperately to break the curse but needed to know more about this woman that plagued his thoughts.

Elijah would be able to handle everything for the sacrifice. Klaus already had a few witches on hand and could easily find a vampire and werewolf. All he needed settled was the doppelganger and moonstone but that would be a job for his brother. He knew how much this meant to him and would not jeopardize it, especially since they have been waiting for five hundred years for the second doppelganger.

Klaus got in his car and navigated his way towards Chicago and towards Caroline. He wondered what she was doing and who she was with. Their conversation from the previous night was played on loop in his head. He remembered every word, every facial expression, the colour of her eyes, the way she walked and the way she moved. Everything.

He was enchanted by this young vampire. She brought out a side to him that no one could. A side he didn't even knew he had until they met. It felt like he was alive for the first time in a thousand years.

Although he may be captivated by the blonde vampire he would never tell anyone. He would never admit his true feelings to her or anyone for that matter. After all, love is a weakness and Niklaus Mikaelson was not weak.

Still, however many emotions he was feeling and thoughts he was thinking, he still found his way towards Chicago.

* * *

"I give up." Liz said; she was tired from the weeks of searching for the daughter that didn't want to be found. "She'll come back when she's ready."

"We cannot give up on our daughter!" Her ex-husband exclaimed, slamming his closed fists on the kitchen table that was littered with papers.

"We haven't had a solid lead in a week, Bill."

"I'm not giving up on her." He responded determinedly.

"Why?" She questioned.

"I left when she needed her father the most; I'm not going to abandon her again. Especially not when she's a vampire and I can fix her."

Liz got up from the table and poured herself a cup of coffee and taking a sip. "I can't keep doing this. If you want to keep looking then go ahead. But our baby girl is gone and she's never coming back." Her eyes began to water but she pushed the tears away, regaining control over her emotions. "I'm done sitting around, I need to go back to work."

Bill sighed and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands. "I know you're tired, but you can't give up on her."

"I'm tired, Bill. I'm tired of looking for someone who clearly doesn't want to be found."

"Didn't that boy say he went to Kentucky to look for her?" He asked looking up with his sad blue eyes. They were so much like Carolines' that Liz had to force herself to look away.

"They didn't find any trace of her." She frowned and looked down at her feet.

Bill got up from the kitchen table and made his way towards her. He cupped her head and raised it so that she was looking him in the eyes. "I promise, I will find Caroline and bring her back. I am going to fix her and she will be our little girl again."

Liz blinked back the tears but one managed to slip and roll down her cheek. Bill wiped it up with his thumb. "You promise?"

"Promise." He nodded determined. "Why don't you go get some rest, I may have a lead here that I'm going to follow up on."

"Okay." Liz whispered, placing the mug in the sink and made her way to the back of the house where her room was.

Liz stopped when she passed by Carolines' room. The door was closed to keep any visitors out but she felt compelled to go in there. So she opened the door and slipped inside the room, closing the door behind her.

The room was exactly the way Caroline left it, spotless, not an item out of place. But when Liz opened the closet there was a pile of dirty clothes lying on the floor. She moved to the desk in the corner of the room that held her notebooks and text books for school. Liz opened one which held her biology notes which were written in perfect cursive.

The bed was still made, pillows and her old teddy bear lying on top. Liz sat down on the end of the bed and looked around. There were pictures on the dresser and walls of her family and friends. Every picture held a smiling Caroline. She looked so happy and carefree. Liz couldn't remember the last time she saw her daughter look like that.

The room held so much of Caroline that she felt engulfed by the warmth of her daughter. Liz took one last look around the room and left, making sure to close the door behind her.

Liz didn't know how to feel about the situation. She didn't want to believe that her daughter was a vampire or would attack her father then run away. That just didn't sound like the girl she raised. She felt guilty, that it was somehow her fault that it happened to Caroline or that she couldn't protect her better.

Once Liz was changed and in bed she couldn't stop the tears that fell down her cheeks. It was the same as any other night. Liz went to bed alone, without her daughter near, and cried. She cried for all the emotions she was feeling and couldn't control. She cried for the daughter she lost. She cried because for once she wasn't there for her little girl. She cried because she felt that everything that was happening was her fault.

For once in her life, Liz Forbes was lost in the world.

* * *

The four walked the three blocks into the heart of downtown Chicago and into the club district. Caroline could hear the different music being emitted from each building. One club to her left was playing house music while the one to her right was playing country songs. Brooke was leading the way to what seemed as the most popular club.

There was a long line waiting outside that was blocked off by velvet ropes. Two bouncers stood by the door checking ID's and letting people in. The club was called _Electra_ and had displays of bright neon lights on the outside. Brooke walked right up to the front doors and compelled their way inside.

Once inside, Caroline took a look around in amazement. Never in her life had she been to a club like this before. It was an upscale looking place, something you would expect to see in Sex and the City. The walls were painted dark purple while the bar at the back was light purple with a soft glow lighting the surrounding area. There were a few dozen tall round tables and chairs which were occupied. A majority of the space was being used as a dance floor.

Girls were dressed in skimpy little black dresses or low cut tops. While the men wore dress shorts accompanied by dress pants. The place seemed to be targeted towards people in their late twenties who were just getting off from work and wanted to have a good time.

As Caroline looked around she had flashbacks from the last time she was at a club that was packed with a large amount of people. It didn't turn out that well; she had almost attacked an innocent man all thanks to Brooke. Caroline didn't know what was with that girl, one minute she was being nice to her and the next she was trying to get her to drink human blood from the vein.

Things seemed to being going alright with Brooke; the girl seemed to have forgotten everything that happened in the past few days. It seemed like she had gotten what she wanted, Caroline to kill that innocent man in the park. Caroline hoped that she was done with her games because she was done playing them.

* * *

Brooke watched as Caroline took in the sights of the club, knowing that the poor girl had never been in anything like it before. _Electra_ was more of Brookes' taste, upscale and classy. The last couple of places she had been forced to resort to were torturous. Brooke did not do run down and dirty.

She watched as the boys took off right away to the bar but Brooke stayed back, wanting to keep an eye on Caroline. Brooke remembered the last time they were in a club together; she had tried everything to get the girl to crack. She almost had her but the stupid werewolf had gotten in the way. Brooke was determined to try again, this time no one would get in her way.

Brooke could feel Carolines' defenses crumbling. There is only so much abuse someone could put up with before giving up and giving in. That was where Brooke wanted Caroline. She wanted to destroy the optimistic blonde and if Brooke got her way she would be able to manage it within the next few days.

First Brooke had to deal with the werewolf brothers, she did not need them getting in her way. So she made her way to the bar where the boys were sitting and waiting for their drinks. Brooke was a few feet from the bar when the boys got their drinks so she used her vampire speed and flashed to the bar and drop something in both drinks before returning to Caroline unseen.

She watched from a far as both took a sip of their drinks without suspicion, Brooke grinned, her plan was in motion. So the brunette made her way towards Caroline and grabbed her hand, dragging her towards the dance floor. "You dance while I get us some drinks!" Brooke said over the music and Caroline nodded.

She pushed her way through the crowd and stole the bartender's attention, "One bottle of your finest tequila and a bottle of vodka," Brooke compelled. The bartender blankly nodded and went to the back room behind the bar and returned seconds later with two bottles of alcohol for the girls.

Brooke took them and smiled a fake sweet smile at the man who then turned his attention to the other customers. She went to the nearest table, compelling everyone but one person to leave. After opening up both bottles and setting them on the table she pulled out a pocket knife. The human girl standing beside her let out an audible gasp. "Shut up and stay still."

The girl nodded and quietly watched as Brooke grabbed her hand and sliced her hand with the pocket knife. She quickly moved it over the bottles of alcohol, letting it fall first into the tequila and then into the vodka. Once there was enough blood in the bottle Brooke sent her on her way after compelling her to forget everything that happened.

Once the girl was out of sight, Brooke added a final ingredient to Caroline's bottle then made her way on to the dance floor, both bottles in hand. Caroline had her arms up, dancing to the music that was playing. She looked relaxed and happy to be there.

* * *

Caroline saw Brooke make her way over towards her with bottles of alcohol; the girl was smirking at something unknown to Caroline. She willingly took one of the bottles from Brooke, noticing it smelt faintly of tequila and blood. "Is there blood in this?"

"I don't know, try it." Brooke replied before taking a sip of her own drink. Caroline noticed the label was for vodka but that the liquid inside was red, clearly laced with blood as well. Caroline looked down at the drink in her hand then back up at Brooke who was smiling encouragingly. "You'll love it."

Caroline contemplated what to do next. Drinking alcohol laced with blood was something she had never done before, she desperately wanted to know what it would taste like. She figured she wouldn't have to worry about losing control because she wasn't drinking straight from a live body. Brooke seemed to enjoy it, she was already halfway finished her own drink.

So Caroline took a deep breath and brought the bottle up to her lips. The smell of blood was over powering and the ache in her gums and burn in her throat only intensified. She could feel her vampire features appear and so she took a sip, not able to resist any longer.

The mixture of blood and alcohol was enticing and addicting. It was a taste unlike any other. Caroline took another sip and another, finally she just chugged it, relishing in the taste and feeling it offered.

When Caroline had finished the bottle Brooke smiled happily at her, "I knew you would like it."

"That was really good."

"Want another?" Brooke offered. Caroline hesitated, not sure of what she wanted but Brooke took that as a yes and went on her way back to the bar to prepare another alcohol and blood cocktail.

Five minutes later Brooke had returned with another two bottles and handed one to Caroline. This time she savoured it, not wanting the mixture to end. So Brooke and Caroline danced together with drinks in hand, not paying any mind to their surroundings.

Caroline was disappointed when she was finished her cocktail, feeling slightly drunk on alcohol and blood.

"Let's dance!" Brooke yelled and grabbed Caroline's hand and whisked her away.

The two danced with each other and laughed whenever a man tried to get between the two. One man was successful to get between them though. He was a tall man with shaggy dirty blonde hair with broad shoulders. The man was drunk and the stench of alcohol emitting from his pores.

"The drunk ones are the best to drink from." Brooke shouted over the music and over the man's shoulder.

"What?" Caroline asked confused as to what the other girl was talking about.

Then she saw Brooke sink her fangs into the man's neck, she pulled back and smirked at Caroline. "It's better than the cocktail, more blood and less alcohol. Try it." She turned the man around so he was facing Caroline and pushed him towards her.

Caroline reached out to steady the man who was wobbly on his feet. She took a step back once he was steady, as much as she wanted the blood she didn't want to do it in the open, even if no one was watching them.

Brooke was by her side in a second, whispering into her ear. "Let go, Caroline, have some fun."

"I don't want to," She shook her head and tried to get away but Brooke grabbed onto her arms, anchoring her in place.

"Do what I ask of you and by tomorrow night you will have your ring."

Caroline's ears perked up at the mention of her daylight ring, something she wanted desperately. "What do I have to do?"

"Drink from him." Brooke pointed to the man in front of them who was trying to dance.

Caroline stepped forward and put her hands on his shoulders to steady him and stood up on her tip toes. The blood from the wound was leaking down his neck and into his shirt. Being in such close proximity to the smell made her gums ache and her mouth water. She went on instinct, fangs dropping the second her lips came in contact with the warm skin.

The blood was better than she remembered. It was better than the cocktail mixture she had earlier. This time there was more blood than alcohol but she was still able to taste the liquor and the sweet after taste. She was reeling in the taste and the high she felt that she didn't feel Brooke pulling at her to stop.

By the time Caroline was done and pulled back the man was dead and had dropped to the floor. "I didn't tell you to that." Brooke remarked, eyeing the dead body. "

"It felt too good to stop." Caroline smirked.

Luckily the brunette was feeling helpful and picked the man up before anyone took notice and took him outside. Caroline stayed in the club, looking around, wondering how no one noticed the two vampires feeding on a human. It was an obvious answer; everyone was drunk, including Caroline.

Brooke returned with another bottle of vodka for the two of them to share. This time there was no added ingredient but Caroline didn't care. She finished the drink and went back to the bartender to compel herself her own bottle.

This was the first time in her vampire life that she had felt free. Controlling Caroline was pushed away and she let go of all morals and values to pursue. What she wanted most at the moment and that was blood and the feeling she got from it.

* * *

Brooke knew what Caroline was feeling, she could tell by the look in her eye. She wanted more blood to feel that power and strength but also the pleasures. The girl had let go of everything and Brooke was going to play right into it.

Her plan was already a success; she had drugged the guys and left them in the alley, Caroline had let her guard down and took control of feeding. All she needed was to get Caroline to initiate it and complete a feed on her own without Brooke's help.

So Brooke compelled a final bottle of tequila from the bartender and handed it over to Caroline who took it willingly. The girl was drunk and had all her walls down. Brooke watched as Caroline downed the whole bottle in minutes and started dancing with another girl. She watched as Caroline moved behind and pushed the hair off her shoulder and sunk her fangs into the exposed neck.

Caroline didn't stop and ended up killing the girl. She watched as the blonde compelled a man beside her to take care of it. Brooke had never been more proud, Caroline was something special.

Brooke made her way over to Caroline who continued to dance while wiping remnants of blood off her lips.

"Ready to go?" Brooke asked.

Caroline stopped dancing and frowned. "I don't want to go yet."

"It's last call."

"So we'll just bring the party home." The blonde suggested.

Brooke laughed, "we got a busy day tomorrow, we should really just call it a night."

"Fine." Caroline pouted.

Brooke began walking towards the door but felt that Caroline wasn't following her. She turned around to see her digging her fangs into an unsuspecting man. She managed to spare his life and tossed him on the floor.

"Needed a bite for the road." She shrugged and passed Brooke, walking out the front door of the club. Brooke linked arms with Caroline and headed towards their temporary home.

* * *

Caroline woke up the next day earlier than usual. She jumped off the bed but felt a little shaky; she made her way to the window and opened the curtains. The sun hit her skin almost instantly and Caroline yelped and jumped away.

Brooke ran through the door and went straight to the window to close the curtains. Caroline sighed once it was safe to walk around her room.

"You're up early." Brooke commented as she watched Caroline walk around the room.

"What happened last night?" Caroline asked, rubbing her forehead.

"You don't remember?"

"No."

Brooke got up and grabbed Caroline's wrist and gently led her back to the bed and sat down. "You were incredible!" The brunette gushed. "I have ever seen anything like it before. You were totally in your element."

"What did I do?"

"I'll explain later, you better get cleaned up because we have a special guest stopping by soon." Brooke got up and left Caroline alone with her thoughts.

Whatever Caroline did last night must not have been good if Brooke was happy about it. She tried to remember what happened but couldn't remember anything. Caroline had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach that whatever she had done would not make her happy.

* * *

**A/N: What did Brooke do to Caroline? Who's the special visitor? What do you think will happen next chapter?**

**I feel this chapter wasn't the best, mostly a filler chapter. From now on there will be more Klaroline. Things definitely will start to pick up.**


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry I have been absent the last two weeks, I was trying to finish off another story so this could officially become my number one priority. Well now I'm back and ready to give my undivided attention to this story! Enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

Caroline got dressed and made her way downstairs while trying to avoid the sunlight that was shining through open windows which had no curtains. When she reached the living room Brooke was sitting on the couch with a woman Caroline had never seen before.

The woman was dark skinned with short black hair which reminded her much of Bonnie. Shivers ran up her spine, there was a weird vibe coming from their guest. Caroline took a tentative seat on the couch across from the two who stopped their chatting to look at her.

"Caroline, this is Annette." Brooke introduced, both women standing up. "Gloria couldn't be here today, but Annette is just as good."

"Nice to meet you." Caroline shook hands with Annette, who was younger than what Caroline expected. She looked to be in her late twenties but had wrinkles around her eyes, indicating she was older than what she seemed. That she had seen and done things in this world that were hard to handle.

"Brooke tells me here you need a daylight ring?" Annette asked once Caroline was seated on a chair beside the witch.

"Yes, can you help me?"

"Of course, child. Do you have a ring ready?"

Brooke grabbed a ring from her pocket, "I do." She handed it over to the woman sitting beside her.

It was a sterling silver ring with a bright blue, lapis lazuli, stone placed in the center. There were intricate, Victorian designs engraved into the band. It looked old, like it was from another era and knowing Brooke it probably was.

Annette placed the ring on the coffee table in front of the couch which was sitting in the sun. She whispered a few things under her breath and then picked it up and handed it to Caroline.

"That's it?" Caroline asked confused after putting on the ring.

"Yup." Brooke replied and walked over to the window, pulling the curtains open all the way so the light would hit the blonde.

Caroline shrunk away, pulling her knees up to cover her face to protect herself from the sun. She didn't feel anything but the heat from the hot sun. Her skin wasn't burning or felt like it was on fire. "It worked!"

"It did." Annette smiled beside her.

Caroline got up off the chair and began to twirl in the sun, feeling elated that she could finally feel the light and warmth on her skin. "I missed this." She breathed, smiling happily as she danced around the room. "Thank you so, so much!" Caroline ran over and wrapped her arms around Annette who was taken slightly aback.

"You're welcome." Annette let go and Caroline took to sitting down on the couch to admire her ring.

"Well now that that's settled I'm going out to get a few things for our party tonight." Brooke said, grabbing her purse and pushing it onto her shoulder.

"Can I come?" Caroline questioned excitedly, ready to try out her new ring.

"No but I'll be back soon." With that Brooke flashed out of the house.

Caroline frowned and looked at Annette who was almost at the door ready to leave as well. "Wait! I need your help."

The older woman stopped and turned around to face Caroline. "Yes?"

"I'm new to this whole supernatural thing, right? Well something happened last night and I have this bad feeling about it all and I can't remember anything. I would ask Brandon but he seemed to have disappeared and Brooke isn't that trust worthy. So I was wondering, since you're a witch, if you could do anything to help me?"

Annette laughed, "I can try." She walked over to Caroline and sat the two on the couch, grabbing her hands.

Caroline watched as she closed her eyes and her face contorted into one of confusion and disgust. "Well I have bad news and more bad news." Annette said solemnly. "Someone put something in your drink, so you weren't in control of yourself and you didn't know consciously what was happening."

"Someone spiked me?" Caroline was shocked but eventually that turned into realization which turned into anger. "Brooke."

Annette nodded. "I have known Brooke for a long time and she can be the nicest and caring person but she can also be manipulative. There is always a second agenda with that girl."

"I've noticed." She mumbled under her breath. "What else happened?"

"I saw three dead, all killed by you."

"I killed three people?" Caroline asked dumbfounded.

Annette nodded, "Not consciously, you weren't in control of yourself."

Caroline felt all the air escape from her lungs and she sunk to the floor, tears starting too pool at the corner of her eyes. She gasped for air, feeling like she was being attacked from all angles while feeling every emotion under the sun. "I don't want to kill people; I've been trying so hard."

"I know, child." Annette tried comforting Caroline by rubbing her back but it had no effect.

Caroline shuddered under the touch and felt the sudden need to get out of there, to run far away from Brooke. She needed to escape Brooke's hold on her so she could be her own person. "I need to get out of here," she whispered before flashing out of the house.

She had no idea where she was going, Caroline had never even been out of Mystic Falls. She had no idea where she was going to go next or what she was going to do. All she knew was she needed to get away from Brooke.

Caroline was as lost as she felt. She made sure to use her vampire speed so no one would question the crying girl in the middle of the city. Once she reached her destination she stopped and slipped into the alley and fell to the ground. The tears fell began to fall fiercely as she felt all emotions known to man.

Collapsing onto the cold ground, Caroline cried into her hands waiting for everything to pass. She had no strength to move or stop crying, it felt like the end of the world to her. Caroline never wanted to be a monster and murder helpless people. For the past two weeks Caroline had tried to control herself and she thought she was doing pretty well for herself until last night.

Another wave of realization overcame her as Caroline struggled to breathe and stop crying.

* * *

Klaus had just arrived in Chicago, it was midday and the streets were busy with people going about their day. All he wanted was to find Caroline. He wanted to see her and talk to her. His thoughts were constantly consumed of her and her blonde hair and her blue eyes.

He was passing by a coffee shop when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. It was a fast movement but being as old as he was it almost looked like the vampire was moving in slow motion. Blonde curls were flowing behind as she ran at top speed. The smell in the air was familiar and Klaus found himself following closely behind.

A club came into view, _Electra_, a fancy looking place and Caroline had gone into the alley. It was a strange location and he wondered what had compelled her to travel all the ways into the club distract only to hide in an alley.

The sound of Caroline crying and gasping for breath cut through the air and Klaus found himself walking towards the alley and towards the sounds. When he turned the corner he wasn't expecting what he found.

Caroline was crumpled on the ground, face in her hands, crying. She struggled for air, a human habit, but he sympathized none the less. Her blonde curls fell forward providing as a curtain around her face.

Cautiously, Klaus made his way farther into the alley and closer to the broken down girl. He made sure to walk towards her loudly, so she wasn't spooked. "Caroline." He whispered when he finally reached her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Klaus bent down so they were the same height.

She looked up with wide blue eyes and makeup running down her face along with tears that wouldn't stop. "Klaus? What are you doing here?"

"I came back for you. What happened?" He asked as he reached out and wiped tears away with his thumb.

"Everything." She sobbed.

Klaus felt his heart, one he didn't even know he had, break in two. This beautiful girl in front of him was crying and all he wanted to do was fix it. So Klaus sat down against the wall and pulled her onto his lap. She settled against his chest, gripping onto his shirt. He let her cry on his shoulder as he rubbed soothing circles on her back.

The girl was hysterical; he couldn't decipher what she was talking about in-between sobs. He was able to catch the odd words like: killed, monster, death, and blood.

Klaus couldn't have predicted what happened next, Caroline looked up at him with pleading eyes while tears quietly ran down her face. "Make it stop." She pleaded.

"Make what stop? I don't understand."

"I don't want to be a vampire." Caroline cried out. "Turn me back!"

"Caroline, sweetheart, it doesn't work like that, I can't simply turn you back." He tried to explain.

Caroline furiously shook her head, "then kill me!"

Klaus only wrapped his arms around her tighter, not really knowing how the whole comforting thing was supposed to work. He was trying by rubbing her back and arms. Finally he couldn't take it anymore and picked her up in his arms bridal style. He flashed out of the alley and back to his hotel using his vampire speed.

Once they arrived, Klaus placed her on the bed in the suite. She had finally passed out from exhaustion which a relief because that meant she had stopped crying. He carefully brought the blankets up to her chin and backed away to sit in the chair opposite of the bed.

* * *

Caroline awoke suddenly and bolted upright in the bed she was sleeping in, not aware that she had fallen asleep. Panicked, Caroline spun her head around the room trying to get a hold of her bearings. She stopped when she saw a familiar face staring at her with interest, "Klaus?"

He nodded and moved off the chair and sat on the edge of the bed, close to her. "Where am I?"

"You're in my hotel room, I found you in an alley crying hysterically, and I just brought you back here. I wasn't sure where you are living at the moment." He replied nervously.

"Brooke."

Klaus furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "Caroline, what did Brooke do to you?"

"She drugged me. I killed three people last night and I wasn't even aware of it." She paused as a tear rolled down her cheek, "I killed three people." That opened the flood gates and Caroline began to cry again as she felt her heart clench in pain at everything she had done.

She felt the bed dip down as he scooted closer towards her, his arm reaching around her. Caroline felt as he pulled her into his chest and she went willingly, craving the warmth he offered. They sat there quietly, her crying onto his crisp black shirt and him rubbing small circles on her arms.

"I have to go back." Caroline said, pushing herself away from him as she wiped the unshed tears from her eyes. "Brooke will be looking for me and I'm already on the run from too many people that I don't need to add her too."

"You're just going to go back to her after everything she's done to you?" Klaus asked suddenly angry.

"I have to! You don't know what she's like, she'll come looking for me and make my life hell. The only way to survive is to play along with all her games." She replied.

Caroline stood up to walk out the door when she bumped into a hard chest, Klaus had flashed in front of her. "Let me help you, I can fix this."

She stepped back, wanting distance from him. "You can't fix this! It's all my fault, I was stupid and naïve thinking that she would actually be interested in helping me."

"You'd be surprised at what I can do, Caroline. I am an Original vampire after all." He smirked.

"A what?" She asked; confused at exactly what an 'Original vampire' was. "No, you know what forget it. Just leave me alone." Caroline stepped around him and surprisingly he let her go.

She got halfway down the hallway of the hotel when she heard his voice; it was from a distance but sounded so close. "I promised you I would find you here in Chicago. I can help you, Caroline; then I can show you the world." He paused before whispering one more thing, "Genuine beauty."

Caroline felt a shiver run down her spine as she remembered him saying almost those exact words a few days ago. She felt tempted to take him up on his offer but she had fallen into that trap before, it was how she ended up in this whole mess to begin with. Caroline picked up her speed and returned back to house they were staying at.

She wasn't sure what she was going to do next, possibly confront Brooke but who knew? Caroline was done being pushed around, now that she had her daylight ring she could do whatever she wanted and wasn't going to let anyone hold her back.

* * *

Klaus didn't understand what was going on with Caroline. He had promptly rescued her from the alleyway and brought her back to his hotel room and then as soon as she woke up she left. He felt a little offended but instead brushed it off, curious as to what she was talking about. So he discreetly followed her out of the hotel and into the busy streets of Chicago.

Caroline was taking her time while walking back to wherever she came from. He could smell her anger pulse off her in waves, it growing the closer she got to her final destination.

Klaus wasn't sure what she was planning or what he was going to do. He simply wanted to comfort the blonde and help her through whatever it was that she was going on. In all his thousand years of life he hadn't felt this way about anyone, not even his siblings. The baby vampire interested him and he just wanted to protect and care for her.

In a few short minutes they had reached the final destination, a small run down house on the edge of Chicago, only a few blocks from the club. He watched as she made her way inside and situated himself out of sight but close enough that he could hear what was going on.

* * *

Caroline burst through the front door of the current house she was supposedly staying at. Anger was pulsing through her body as she began having flashbacks from the night before, the effects of the drugs finally wearing off. Caroline remembered every kill and the way it made her feel. She cringed, knowing how good it felt but how wrong it really was. She didn't want to be a monster and kill helpless people.

When Caroline entered the house, Brooke was nowhere in sight. However, there were a few people that Caroline had never seen before in her life and decorations hung up around the front room and living room of the house. She noticed that Brandon and Ben were not hanging around either and she realized that she hadn't seen them in twenty four hours.

"Ah, Caroline, you're here! Now we can officially get the party started!" Brooke exclaimed as she sauntered down the stairs.

"Who are all those people?" Caroline asked, waving her arm in the direction of the living room where half a dozen people were standing around.

The other girl shrugged her shoulders, "party goers? Dinner? Whatever you want them to be Caroline."

She rubbed her face with her hands, feeling frustrated and exhausted all at once. Caroline acted on instinct and ran past Brooke and flew up the stairs and quickly packed up what little things she had acuminated over the trip.

When Caroline reached the bottom floor with suitcase in hand, Brooke looked at her disgustedly. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Leaving." Caroline replied, taking a step towards the door but Brooke stepped in front of it quickly.

She shook her head and gave a short, sarcastic laugh. "You're not leaving."

"I'm done with you and all your little games!"

"I gave you that ring, you can walk out into the sun because of me, you should be thankful." Brooke replied angrily.

This time Caroline laughed, "I am thankful, because now I can leave your sorry ass."

Brooke took a step closer to Caroline, "you're not leaving."

"Yes, I am." She argued.

"And where are you going to go? How are you supposed to hide from those Salvatore brothers who are looking for you? How are you supposed to run from Mommy and Daddy who are vampire hunters? You have nowhere to go, little girl"

Caroline was fuming now, she was only trying to break her down and she wasn't going to put up with it. She didn't need Brooke anymore and was just done with everything that had to do with her. "I'll figure something out."

The other girl laughed and took a small step forward, "where you going to hide? You can't control yourself; I'll just end up finding or worse maybe Damon or your Mom will find you. It's safer to stay with me."

"No, I'm not going to stay with you so you can control and manipulate me! I don't want to murder innocent people and I don't want to become a monster like you!"

"Is this all because of last night?" Brooke asked while Caroline shook her head. "So you over indulged a little bit and lost control, it's no big deal. Sometimes you slip up and fall off the wagon, it happens, ask any recovering alcoholic. If you want to learn to control yourself, I can help you, Caroline."

The blonde scoffed, "The only thing you can help me with is to become a monster just like you."

The next second Caroline was being forced against the door with a hand at her throat. Instinctively, she reached up, clawing at the hand that held her there. Brookes' vampire features were out, her dark eyes looking clearly into her blue ones. Caroline was gasping for air as the hand tightened around her neck.

Caroline gritted her teeth, "let me go."

"I may be a monster but so are you, my dear, you just may not know it yet. When you get to be as old as I am you don't care about your humanity as much as you used to. Humans are vile creatures that only set out to destroy each other. You should celebrate the fact that your no longer bound by trivial human compassion, your truly free, Caroline." Brooke snarled.

"I can't breathe, let me go." Caroline gasped, still struggling for breath.

"Who says I shouldn't kill you?" Brooke reached out to her side and broke off a leg of a side table that was sitting by the door. "You're a pathetic excuse for a vampire."

Brooke held the makeshift stake just above Carolines' heart, "Brooke, don't!" Caroline yelled just as the stake pierced her skin and she began to scream at the pain she felt. Then all of a sudden Brooke was thrown back by an invisible force and the stake pulled out of Carolines' skin which had barely touched her heart.

Caroline sunk to the ground gasping for breath, placing her hand over her heart and felt it pound slowly against her chest. When she pulled her hand away there was blood on it but the pain ebbed away as the wound began to heal. She looked up to see a familiar man at holding Brooke in the similar position that Caroline was in only moments before.

Standing in front of her was a curly, dirty blonde head with a lean body. She recognized that body as someone she was taking to less than an hour ago. Klaus.

He had her up off the ground, hands around her neck and face to face. Caroline scrambled up off her feet and ran over to Klaus and Brooke. "What are you doing?"

"She tried to kill you, now I should kill her." He replied without bothering to look at her.

His fangs were exposed and it almost look like he was going to rip into her throat. Carefully, Caroline placed her hand on his upper arm, the one that was wrapped around Brookes' neck.

Brooke was struggling against his hold but her strength was no match for him. She clawed at his hands that held her neck and then tried for his face but he just slammed her into the wall. She stopped her attempts at trying to escape and just looked up, fear evident in her green eyes.

"Don't kill her." She said soothingly. He looked over at her with questioning, dark eyes.

She was almost taken aback by how scary and haunting he looked. Sure, she had seen vampires in true form, but there was just an air of power that he gave off. His eyes were vacant and uncaring, not a trace of humanity left in them.

"Let her go." Caroline tried again.

"Why?" Klaus questioned through gritted teeth. "After everything she has done to you?"

She sighed, he wouldn't understand. "Don't kill her, just let her go."

Klaus gave her a long, hard look before returning his attention back to Brooke. "I want you to go to Mystic Falls and wait for me there. Find Elijah and tell him that you are to be used for the sacrifice. You are to not leave the town and forget you ever met Caroline."

Caroline noticed Brooke had a blank look on her face now, she nodded in response to everything to Klaus had just told her. She realized that he had just compelled her, Caroline was about to ask him about it but he wasn't finished with Brooke yet.

"Do you understand?"

Brooke nodded again in response, "Find Elijah, I'm to be used for the sacrifice."

"Good, girl, now go before I change my mind about killing you here and now." He snarled. Klaus let her go and Brooke didn't even hesitate and shot out of the house, running for her life.

* * *

Brandon felt his back aching as he woke up, rubbing his neck as he sat up he found himself inside a strange building. Looking around he found his brother still asleep so he gently nudged him. After noticing the small rise and fall of his brothers chest, Brandon got up to explore.

They were in what looked like a supply room. Beer and liquor sat on shelves that lined the wall which meant they were at a bar or club. Brandon had no recollection of the night before or how they ended up there. From beneath him he heard his brother stir and mumble under his breath.

"What the hell?" Ben said, this time a little more awake. "What happened?"

"I have no idea." Brandon replied, helping his brother up.

Ben went straight to the door to check if it was locked and to their surprise it was. So the two lined up at the door and on the count of three they kicked it open.

The place didn't look familiar to Brandon at all. It seemed to be an upscale club; not at all his ideal place to spend his time but it was Brookes'. "This has Brooke written all over it." He said as they walked into the large room.

Luckily there was no one around and they were able to slip out of the front without anyone noticing anything. The bright light sent pain to his head, like he would if he had had too much to drink the night before.

"What happened last night?" Ben asked from beside him, clutching at his head like he was in pain too.

"No idea, but I have a feeling it had something to do with Brooke."

Ben nodded, "Wouldn't put it past me."

The two headed through the busy streets of Chicago and towards their temporary home. They walked silently, feeling there were no words as to explain exactly what was going on. When they reached the broken down home they stopped at the doorway, hearing the tail end of a conversation.

"Don't kill her." Pleaded a feminine voice, one that sounded like Carolines'.

Ben pulled him over to the window so they got a clear view of what was happening inside. They were ble to see through the living room where a people were absent mindedly milling around, obviously compelled. In the entryway were three people, one that looked like Brooke was being pinned against the wall by a strange man, clearly a vampire. Then Caroline stood beside them watching and interjecting in the scene that was unfolding before her.

"Let her go." Caroline tried again.

"Why?" The vampire asked angered. "After everything she has done to you?"

As the unknown vampire turned his head to look at Caroline the brothers were able to get a clear view of him. He had scary, dark eyes and blood on his lips with veins protruding from his eyes. Brandon had seen vampires before but there was something different about this one that he couldn't put his finger on.

"Don't kill her, just let her go."

The mystery vampire gave Caroline a long almost pleading look before staring back at Brooke who was hanging there not struggling. "I want you to go to Mystic Falls and wait for me there. Find Elijah and tell him that you are to be used for the sacrifice. You are to not leave the town and forget you ever met Caroline."

There was an absent look in Brookes' eyes momentarily and a blank expression on her face. "Did he just compel her?" Brandon whispered to his brother. "I thought vampires can't compel other vampires?"

"I don't know; do I look like a vampire to you?" Ben snapped and turned his attention back to inside the house.

"Do you understand?" The vampire asked.

Brooke nodded before adding, "Find Elijah, I'm to be used for the sacrifice."

Brandon watched as a smile graced his face as he watched Brooke flash out of the house. The two both turned to see a blur run through the front door and down the streets of Chicago.

"What do we do now?" Brandon asked his older brother; their plan so far was to stick with Brooke and now she was gone.

"I don't know, Brandon!"

"Ben-"

"Just shut up for a second I'm trying to figure out what we're doing next." Ben interrupted, practically shouting at him. Brandon shut his mouth and quietly waited for his brother to speak again.

A few minutes later he saw the light bulb appear over his head, Ben had something in mind. "I'll call Brady, maybe his pack can take us in."

"Alright."

"Let's go." Ben said and started to walk away but he turned his head and looked through the window again to see Caroline there engaged in heated argument with the mystery man.

"What about Caroline?" He asked.

"Leave her; she'll be fine on her own." The older boy replied and walked towards Brandon and practically pushed him forward and towards the street.

"Ben-" He tried but was quickly interrupted.

"Brandon, she's a vampire! Werewolves and vampires don't get along, mortal enemies and all so just forget about the girl."

Brandon stole one more look through the window before turning to his brother; with a sigh he followed him into the streets of Chicago.

* * *

"What the hell was that?" Caroline asked; she was outraged at the scene that just unfolded before her. Brooke had just been compelled to go to Mystic Falls of all places and she just left Caroline there high and dry with some guy she barely knew. Granted, she was compelled to forget about Caroline, which was a relief in case she ran into any of her 'friends'.

"I think I just saved your life, love." He smirked, his features returning to that of a human.

"I had it under control! I told you to leave me alone."

That seemed to anger him, "She had a stake to your heart, I wasn't going to stand by and let her kill you!"

Caroline scoffed, "She wouldn't have killed me."

"Yes she would have, sweetheart." He said calmly stepping closer to her.

"Ugh, what do you want, Klaus?"

His eyes twinkled and he smirked, "you seem to have lost your travel companion, care if I join you?"

Caroline was taken aback by his request and was tempted to give in, to let him show her the world. Then she remembered that trusting a stranger was what got her into trouble in the first place.

"Actually, I'd rather if you didn't." She replied before grabbing her suitcase from beside the staircase and realized there were people still hanging around in the living room. They paid no mind to the disturbance that happened only moments ago because they were being compelled. Now Brooke was gone and Caroline had to clean up her mess.

So Caroline went through all the people, compelling them to leave and forget this ever happened. She watched as they left the house one after another. SHe followed the last person out of the house, ignoring the Klaus in the process.

It was late afternoon, the sun slowly beginning it's decent and there was a warm breeze swirling around her. Caroline made it to the sidewalk and looked both left and right and realized she had no idea where she was supposed to go from there. Would it be safe to stay in Chicago? Would anyone find her there?

"Lost?" She heard Klaus ask from behind her.

She rolled her eyes, "no, just deciding what's next."

Klaus collapsed the distance between them and was standing closely behind her. "I can show you the world, Caroline." He leaned forward to whisper in her ear, "if that is what you want."

Caroline spun around so she was facing him, almost nose to nose. "The last time I followed along on someone else's trip, this happened and much more and I will not let it happen again."

"We can play by your rules, go wherever you want."

"No." She snapped.

"Why not?"

Caroline huffed, "I don't know you! How do I know you're not going to hurt me or use me for some sadistic game?"

Klaus growled, sensing that she was talking about her experience with Brooke. "I don't want to hurt you, I would much rather protect you from anyone who may cause you harm."

She raised an eyebrow, "why?"

"I fancy you, Caroline."

Caroline wanted to laugh, it was ridiculous that someone she never met could 'fancy her' and want to show her the world and other things. "Why?" She repeated.

"Come with me and I will tell you all the reason as to why I am so enamored by you." He relied simply, giving her a sly smile.

There was something about him and the words he just spoke held such honesty. She was tempted to give into this stranger, to let him show her the world. He seemed old; maybe there was a thing or two she could learn from him.

Yet, the way he dealt with Brooke, the emptiness in his eyes and the fierceness in his attitude in that moment frightened Caroline. But the way he was looking at her now was so different than the way anyone else had looked at her. He was interested in her and seemed to care for her.

"Okay, I'll go with you." She said, slightly surprising herself.

Klaus grinned happily that she had taken him up on his offer. "Perfect."

"Where to?" She asked.

He replied with a smirk and grabbed her hand and led her onto the streets of Chicago, leading the way to wherever they were headed.

Caroline, oddly, felt safe in his hands. It also felt like this road trip was finally going to begin. Klaus was going to show her the world and she was going to let him. A giddy feeling went through Caroline as she thought of all the possible destinations she could be going to.

* * *

**A/N: Ding dong, the bitch is gone! So ****here is Klaus going to take her? I'm thinking Europe maybe? **

**It will be Klaroline from here on out and it's about time! I love suggestions on what you want to happen or think will happen next. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

**PS. I now have a tumblr, you can follow me at: /bright465**


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: Wow, I cannot believe we are already on chapter ten! Time flys. Anway thank you all for sticking with me this far I really do appreciate it. Hope you enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

It had been a quiet flight; all six hours so far Caroline had kept to herself. Klaus sat on the other side of the plane watching her every move. However, she didn't move. Instead, she sat there staring out the window, lost in thought.

She never once asked him about himself or where they were headed. She just silently followed him to the airport and boarded the private plan. He wished that he could read her mind just so he could figure out what was going on in that pretty little head of hers.

He had watched her for days before he finally introduced himself to her. She seemed like a strong willed girl, one who would stand up for herself. This was not that girl. She had simply allowed Klaus to decide everything, he expected her to put up more of a fight but she didn't.

Klaus turned his attention away, hoping that when she was ready she would approach him or talk to him, anything to know she was alright. The state she was in merely hours ago suggested that she wasn't alright, that she was far from it. Caroline hadn't shared the details on what happened that had led to her falling apart and he didn't ask her.

The pilot announced that they were descending and to buckle up. Klaus looked over to see Caroline absent mindedly buckling her seat belt up before returning her attention back to staring out the window. He couldn't understand it at first, why she had taken such interest in the view. It was only clouds; they wouldn't be able to see very much from where they were.

He didn't really know much about Caroline, in fact he next to nothing about her, but he suspected that she must have never been on an airplane before. He noticed how observant she was when they first arrived and loaded onto the plane. After a thousand years of living and being around when they were invented, he found that they had lost their magic; that they were merely a ways of transportation.

However, as he looked out of his little window and saw as the clouds thinned out and the landscape became clear. The green grass, rivers, streets and roundabouts all came into view and it was all like he was seeing it for the first time. It was truly fascinating, how everything just seemed small and insignificant from up in the sky.

Klaus had been to London many times, spent countless decades as an inhabitant but had never really noticed the beauty of the United Kingdom from such heights. Now he understood why Caroline was so enthralled earlier. Although, perhaps she was just lost in thought or found the scene peaceful. Klaus didn't really know because she wouldn't look his way and her face was stone cold emotionless.

Yet, there was still the light in her eyes; the light that he had grown to adore and look forward to seeing. He would show her that there was more to live for, that being a vampire was better than being dead. He was going to show her the world and all that she has to live for.

Klaus felt the jerky landing as the wheels went down and hit the tarmac but didn't move his eyes from Caroline who was still staring out the window. A few moments later the plane came to a complete stop and the front hatch was opened by an attendant.

He was exhausted from the travelling and just wanted to get to their final was still more travelling to do but not much. They had landed at a small airport just outside London, one where private planes could easily come and go.

Standing up, Klaus waited for Caroline to do so as well but she didn't move from her position which had him slightly worried. "Caroline, love, we're here."

She looked up at him with wide blue eyes that held so much vulnerability and hurt in them. Caroline nodded once before unbuckling her seat belt and followed him out of the plane. They made their way to the car that waited on the tarmac and she got in without question.

The drive to the country side was roughly four hours, all held in silence. He had chosen Leyburn as their destination, knowing London would be too crowded. This would be the perfect place for her to learn how to be a vampire and everything that he had in store for her. Later they could travel into town, when she had proper control and could be trusted.

Klaus had no doubt that she would make an excellent vampire under his influence and teachings. She would learn how to fight and defend herself, something that would give him peace of mind for when she was on her own. Then she would learn how to control her blood thirst. But first she had to learn the basics.

The town car came to a stop outside a classic stone cottage. He had owned the land surrounding it for almost two hundred years and rebuilt the cottage short of fifty years before. It wasn't a particular favourite of his because he wasn't a fan of being in the middle of nowhere. However it was the perefect retreat where he could find some peace and quiet and just paint.

There was a small stone wall that enclosed the front yard in front of the cottage that had a wooden gate. The house was on the larger side and two stories tall. Behind sat rolling hills that were endless and went on for miles.

It was dawn in their current time zone, the sun just beginning to rise over the property.

Klaus got out of the car and heard Caroline copy his actions. When he looked over to her she was staring up at the residence with some interest and curiosity. Although as quick as the flash of emotion crossed her face it disappeared and she was void of it once again.

"We're in Leyburn of the United Kingdom." He told her proudly as he escorted her towards the cottage.

"England?" Caroline squeaked, looking up at him.

Klaus gave her a small smile, "The one and only."

The older vampire led her through the front gate and garden and into the home that they would be residing in for the unforeseeable future. He noticed Caroline take in her surroundings, a kitchen was to their right and a sitting room to their left. All the furniture was up to date, however there were no electronics.

He led her up the stairs where three bedrooms sat and ushered her into the first one. It was light blue in colour with a four poster bed sitting in the middle. A dark dresser sat in one corner with a bookshelf in the other. There was one door to the right leading to a closet and en suite.

Caroline quietly entered the room and looked around. She turned and gave him a small smile before walking over to the bed and collapsing on top of it.

He watched as she curled up within herself, bringing her legs up to her chest and hugging them there. She closed her eyes, wanting to sleep. Feeling like he was invading her privacy he backed away from the room. "I'll be downstairs if you need me."

Caroline didn't answer so Klaus let her rest for the mean time and retreated from the room.

He had feared that her emotions were turned off but they weren't, her eyes gave away the pain she was feeling. There was nothing really he could do for her, which pained him. Klaus wanted to take away all her pain if he could, if that would heal her and make her feel better. But it had to be on her own terms; she had to want to get better before he could help her.

* * *

Elena had just broken up with Stefan, yet there she was sitting with him, Damon and Rose at the Boarding house. Rose was explaining the whole deal about what they were up against.

They were seated in the parlour, she sat on the couch facing the fireplace while Stefan sat on a chair off to the side with Damon perching himself on a table on the other side. Rose remained standing and began to pace back and forth in front of her.

"Okay, so you're saying the oldest vampire in the history of time is coming after me?"

"Yes-"

"No."

The older Salvatore sighed, "what they're saying is, I mean, if what she's saying is true-"

"Which it is." Rose interrupted.

Damon got up and made his way towards her, "And you're not just saying it so we won't kill you."

"Which I'm not." She rolled her eyes, interrupting him again.

"Then we're looking at a solid maybe." He finally finished.

"Look, Elijah's dead." Stefan said getting up off the couch, making his way towards her. "Right, so no one else even know you exist.'

Rose jumped in, "not that you know of."

Damon shook his head, "that's not helping."

"Look, I've never even met anyone that has laid eyes on him. We're talking centuries of truth mixed with fiction." Stefan turned to look at Elena who was now sitting beside him. "I mean we don't know he's real, for all we know he could be some sort of stupid bed time story."

"He's real." The other girl emphasized. "And he doesn't give up, if he wants something he gets it. If you're not afraid of Klaus then you're an idiot."

"Alright, we're shaking, you've made your point." Damon said.

Elena grew tired of the three trying to make sense of everything. To her it was simple: Klaus was after her. No matter what way you spun it, whether the curse was real or not, he was coming for her.

She pulled her book bag up onto her shoulder and stood up, getting looks from the others in the room. "Where are you going?" Stefan asked concerned.

"To school." She replied and stormed off.

Elena needed her space from everyone and thing, she needed to make sense of this. There was only one person that could help her and that was the original doppelganger. It looked like Elena was going to have to have a visit with Katherine.

* * *

Caroline was in her own world, one filled with a thousand emotions bombarding her at once. There was hurt, guilt, sadness, anger, shame, disgust, and fear. It was true what they said about vampirism, your emotions really are heightened. Caroline didn't know what to feel as she felt everything, so she shut down.

She was in a stupor; a motionless state, one where she does not react to external stimuli. Caroline had barely said two words to Klaus since they boarded the plane. Her normal self would have argued with him or put up a fight just so she could choose where they were going. Instead, she chose a window seat in the small, private plane and looked out the window.

That was the first time Caroline had ever been in a plane. Before she left Mystic Falls Caroline hadn't even been out of her little town. Along with becoming a vampire, everything was new to Caroline on her road trip. It was overwhelming as everything she had done, accomplished, and regretted came crashing down on top of her.

Her conscious was a scary thing. It yelled at her for everything she had done, making her feel the guilt that she had pushed aside for so long. It pained Caroline, that she played into those games and used people the way she had been used not less than a year ago. Caroline didn't want to be that person, she wanted to be better.

Caroline was at war with herself, to be the girl she used to be or become someone even better? It didn't matter at that moment in time as she was lost inside herself, trying to get a grasp on all her emotions. With them being heightened it was hard to concentrate or even think because all she felt was pain. Caroline didn't want to feel anything at all but as hard as she tried, all the emotions were still felt, feeling every single one of every second that passed.

She was so enthralled with her thoughts she didn't notice that the plane had taken off and landed. Caroline barely heard Klaus telling her they were there nor felt him lead her out into an awaiting car. It felt like minutes till he was helping her out of said car and leading her through the cottage. Klaus mentioned they were in England, some town she wasn't really sure where.

The cottage was nice, very typical for what appeared to be the countryside. She took in some detail about the place she would be staying in but found it disinteresting. Klaus silently led her through the cottage and upstairs.

As soon as Caroline saw that he had led her to a bedroom she went straight to the bed and laid down, exhausted from their travelling. Caroline quickly felt herself drifting off to sleep which was a welcomed relief from the reality she was living in.

_The dream started out normal, it felt real. In fact it was real; it was a memory from not too long ago. _

_Caroline was having dinner with her father. He stood on one side of the kitchen preparing his dinner while engaging in conversation. They didn't caught up with each other, what they had missed but nothing of importance, idle chit chat, as always. _

_There was a loud noise that went through the room, one that was a steel knife slicing through skin. Then a smell wafted through the room, it was a heavenly smell one that sent her body on fire and senses into overdrive. _

_He had cut himself and the smell of blood was cutting through the clean air. Her father was holding his hand tight to his chest with a towel wrapped around it. "Shoot! Caroline, honey, can you get me the first aid kit?" He asked._

_Caroline returned to the kitchen moments later with the first aid kit. The towel her father was holding was now soaked in blood. She held her breath as she got closer to her father. _

_The smell of blood and the desire for it was overwhelming as she neared the source. Caroline turned away as her father cleaned up the cut that ran along his palm. _

_Even with the wound covered it was still bleeding; the air becoming overpowered by that one desirable smell. Breathing through her mouth, Caroline fought hard against the basic vampire urges._

_It only took a moment, but she had let her guard down long enough for the smell of blood to motivate her. Caroline felt her fangs drop, the veins under her eyes appear and her eyes darken with desire. She could no longer resist and spun around facing her father who had noticed and began to back away._

_Caroline wasn't fazed; instead she pressed forward. She had him cornered, he couldn't escape. Caroline reached out and grabbed his hand, tearing off the bandage and pulled it to her lips._

_The taste of blood against her lips and tongue was ecstasy._

_Caroline was taken off guard when she felt a sharp pain in her side. Caroline stumbled backwards and saw a wooden stake wedged into her side and began to bleed. Quickly, Caroline pulled it out and felt relief as she began to heal._

_"I knew it." Her father snarled._

_"Daddy, please, I can explain." Caroline pleaded as she reached out to him but he pulled away._

_"You're a monster, Caroline." He replied._

_"Daddy." Caroline sobbed and the tears took over, streaming down her face. "I didn't want this, I never asked for this."_

_He looked at her and seemed to be thinking hard about something. "I can fix you."_

_"You can?" She looked up at him with hopeful eyes._

_He just laughed in her face, "No, there is no fixing you, you're a vampire." Her father spat as he ran past her and grabbed the stake and held it to her heart. "The only way to fix you is to kill you!"_

_Caroline saw what he was planning and flashed behind him. Grabbing his head and pushing it to the side, she exposed his neck. Caroline bit into it hungrily, feeling relief as warm blood circulated through her. _

_Her father fought back hard against her, but the strength of a vampire was no match to that of a humans. Caroline didn't release him when she felt him relax into her hold or when his heart began to struggle to beat. She finally tore herself away when there was no blood left in his body, she had drained him dry._

_Caroline dropped him to the floor and began to sob as she sank to the floor as well. "NO!" She screamed as she flung herself on top of her fathers dead body._

* * *

Klaus had been painting in his studio which was hidden behind the kitchen area and stairs. It was almost midafternoon and he was able to sleep for a total of three hours. It was just enough time for him to rest and allow himself to become accustomed to the time change. Being as old as he was, Klaus prided himself on being an excellent traveller and adjusting quickly to the time differences.

There was a large window in the studio which allowed him to look out onto the sparse land that he owned. It was all rolling hills and scattered trees, the idyllic English country side. He had painted the scenery in front of him many times over the years but this time he felt compelled to paint something else.

Klaus began to paint, lost in his own little world of thinking and worrying about Caroline that he didn't even notice what he was painting until he came up for air. The painting was half completed and electric blue eyes were staring back at him along with a beautiful white smile.

He had painted Caroline. Although in this version there was no pain or hurt etched onto her face. Instead, she radiated with happiness like he had only seen on her once before. This was the girl he wanted, the one that held so much light and hope in just her eyes.

Before he could return to his painting there was a loud yell coming from the room above him. Klaus sprang to his feet and using his supernatural speed flashed up the stairs and into her room.

In front of him, Caroline was sitting upright in the bed, covered in sweat. Her eyes were clenched as sobs racked her body. It was a relief to see her like this, especially after she had been without emotions all day.

Klaus rushed to the side of the bed and quickly sat down beside her and pulled her into his body. Her head was leaning on his chest while she grabbed onto his shirt. He was rubbing soothing circles on her back with one hand while the other was smoothing down her hair. The comforting thing was new and unfamiliar but he found he was quickly getting the hang of it.

He pulled back away from her, cupping her face but she refused to look at him by keeping her eyes squeezed shut. "Caroline, what happened?"

Slowly her eyes opened and glistened with unshed tears. He wiped away the ones that had fallen down her cheeks with his thumbs. "I had a bad dream." She whispered looking down into her hands that rested on her lap.

Klaus sunk his head trying to look her in the eyes, "what happened? Why are you so upset?"

"It felt so real. I mean it was real, that really happened but I didn't kill him!" She looked up at him as she tried to make sense of the dream. "He was alive when I left but in my dream I killed him. I attacked my dad and almost killed him, I'm a monster."

Just as he thought she had stopped crying, the tears began to fall again. Klaus tightened his hold on her face and forced her to look up at him, "you are not a monster, Caroline."

"I am! I almost killed my own father and boyfriend when I first turned!"

Klaus gave her a small smile, "but you didn't. That shows you have more self-control than a normal newborn vampire. Sweetheart, you should be proud of yourself that you didn't kill anyone you loved when you first turned."

"But I killed other people! I have killed five people, Klaus; that's not something I can just forget!" She practically yelled as her tears dried up and anger took place.

"I know." He pulled her into his chest again, hoping to soothe her.

Caroline went willingly and rested her head on his chest. He loved the way she easily fit into his arms but he tried not to think about that but instead the broken girl in front of him.

"I don't want to kill anyone."

"I will help you." He stated and felt her tense. "If you want."

Caroline pulled back out of his arms and looked up at him. Her blue eyes were searching through his and he was hoping she saw the honesty and care that were behind them. She wiped away a lone tear that fell from the corner of her eye and looked up at him again, "you will?"

"Yes. I will teach you everything that I know."

She looked almost taken back by his offer, "why?"

Klaus sighed, his true feelings coming to light. "Because I care about you, Caroline."

"Why?" She repeated.

He stood up from the bed, "would you like to go for a walk with me? We can have that talk I know you've wanted to have with me." Klaus smirked as he held out his hand.

Caroline stared at it apprehensively before slipping her small hand into his large one and stood up off the bed. He let go as soon as she was on two feet, feeling the jolt of electricity that shot though him when they touched.

Klaus led the way down the narrow staircase and out the front door. Caroline walked in stride with him, following his lead of walking onto the property in front of the house.

* * *

Elena had spent all day at the tomb with Katherine. It had been somewhat successful, she had learned about her history and how she escaped Klaus five hundred years ago. It turned out Katherine had turned herself into a vampire before Klaus could get his hands on her and then had spent every day since on the run.

"So how much is your little story true?" Elena asked standing up from the ground.

Katherine was flipping through her family history and replied without looking up, sounding rather bored. "I have no reason to lie, Elena. I have no reason but to sit here and rot"

"So even if it's partially true, that's the reason why you came back, because you wanted to be the one to hand me off to Klaus."

The older vampire closed her book and stood up, leaning against the wall for support. "Five hundred years on the run, I figured he'd be willing to strike a deal."

"So you got Mason Lockwood to find you the moonstone." Elena realized.

"Right again." Katherine smirked.

Elena stepped closer to tomb entrance, "What else do you need to break the curse?"

"You're getting smarter." She drawled.

It seemed like all the dots were coming into alignment for Elena, everything that Katherine had done had suddenly made sense. "It's not just me or the stone, is it?" Elena paused when everything snapped into place. "Otherwise there would be no reason to trigger Tyler Lockwoods' werewolf curse."

"Witches and their spells. So many ingredients, so many people to sacrifice."

"So you need a werewolf. What else?"

"A witch to do the spell, mine bailed but little Bonnie should do just fine." Katherine replied.

Elena narrowed her eyes, stepping forward. "What else?"

"Vampire."

"Caroline." The human doppelganger realized. Another one of her friends life put in danger.

Katherine gave a slight smirk, "could have been anyone I suppose, but I like the poetry of Caroline. "

Elena gasped. "So you were just going to hand us all over to be killed."

"Better you die than I" She replied before sinking down to the ground.

Elena stood there stunned as everything came crashing over her. This curse that Klaus wanted to be broken involved not only her death but the death of people she loved. This was not going to go over well with her; she needed to figure something else that could be done, something so that her friends would not be harmed.

She turned around to head home, tired of whatever game Katherine was playing when the sound of her voice stopped Elena in her tracks.

"He killed my family just to get back at me for running. Whatever you do to escape Klaus, he will get his vengeance. On your friends, on your family, on anyone you've ever loved. You're doomed, there's nothing you can do to stop it. Unless you have this but there's nothing you can do, Klaus is coming for you."

Elena didn't bother replying as her words began to sink in, enforcing every fear that she previously had.

"So did you ever find Caroline?" Katherine asked, standing up from the floor with mocking innocence as she easily changed the subject. Elena shook her head while Katherine smirked, "too bad."

Elena eyed her and stepped forward. "Do you know something?"

"Possibly."

"Where is she? What have you done with her?" She questioned.

"That's for me to know and for you to figure out on your own. I think I have helped you out enough today." She replied before retreating farther into the tomb.

"Katherine, wait! Just tell me where she is!" Elena shouted to her retreating form. "I just want to help her."

A small chuckle came from within the tomb, "She'll return soon enough, when it's time. You know she is the vampire to be used for the sacrifice. We haven't come this far for nothing."

Elena stumbled back confused. "What does that mean?" She asked to the darkness that was the tomb, Katherine nowhere in sight.

There was no answer, the only sound came from Elenas' sporadic breathing. Suddenly things had gotten much more complicated. Figuring she wouldn't be getting any more answers from her ancestor, Elena left and started towards the boarding house needing to talk with Stefan.

* * *

Katherine had retreated back into the cave and heard the human doppelgänger leave only moments later. She slowly made her way back to the entrance of the tomb to where the book of her family history sat. Slowly, she sank to the floor, pulling the book onto her lap she began to read.

A new set of footsteps sounded, the person slowly clapping their hands as they came into view. "Very nice, Katerina." The girl smirked, "very dramatic."

Katherine just rolled her eyes, "what are you doing here? You're supposed to be with Caroline."

"Funny story actually…"

Katherine bolted upright and flashed to the threshold of the tomb, snarling. "I did not come all this way to have you ruin everything!"

The girl laughed loudly at the statement making Katherine snarl. "Looks like you did that all yourself. Look at you, _Katherine_; you're stuck in a tomb. What are you going to do when Klaus comes to town? You can't simply offer up all your merry band of ingredients from in here."

"What are you even doing here, _Brooke_?" She snapped.

"Klaus thinks he compelled me to return to this dump to find Elijah. Too bad I'm on vervain." Brooke shrugged. "See, Caroline might have gotten away but with you in here my day had just gotten better. While you rot in this tomb, I'll be taking credit for all your effort and Klaus will grant my freedom not yours."

Katherine tried to escape, pushing against the invisible barrier, wanting to tear into the other girls' throat. "That's not going to happen!"

Brooke laughed and shook her head. "You seem to forget why we were on the run to begin with. It is your fault, _Katerina_, and I will not let your freedom be granted over mine nor Roses'. I want you to rot in here for all eternity while I happily live out here in _freedom._"

"That's not going to happen. Klaus is not going to grant you anything!" Katherine yelled.

"We'll see about that." Brooke replied, turning on her heel and walking away.

"When I get out of here, I'll kill you myself. Do not get in my way!" She shouted at the retreating back.

In a second Brooke was back in front of Katherines' face, "No, you do not get in _my _way." Then she left within a blink of an eye.

Katherine stormed angrily into the tomb, punching the rock walls. This was no supposed to happen. She had done everything for her own gain, not for someone else to swoop in and take it all from her. Brooke was on the outside while Katherine was trapped in the tomb. There wasn't much for her to do in there but think up a plan that would ruin Brooke and any chance at freedom.

* * *

Caroline followed Klaus as they walked along a small path that led through the property. He mentioned that he owned the surrounding acres of the cottage and often came here to relax.

The view was breathtaking, nothing that she had seen in Mystic Falls. The view hadn't come close to anything she had seen before in her life. It was stunning, exactly how she pictured the English countryside to look like but so much more.

The green grass was endless, it ran on for miles. Off to one end it looked like there was a small lake with a rope swing. The shrubbery and trees were placed sporadically, adding a mixture of dark greens to the canvas.

They walked in silence, side by, side. He often snuck a glance down at her, obviously waiting for her to start talking but she was enjoying the quiet. There was a peacefulness about the area, that she could be left alone with her thoughts but not have them over run her.

"You seem to be feeling better." Klaus stated, clearly not a fan of the silence. Caroline raised an eyebrow, not understanding what he meant. "Before, you wouldn't say a word; it was like you were in a catatonic state."

Caroline ignored him and changed the subject, "you ever just reach your breaking point? Where you can't take the pain any longer and you want it all to end?"

He seemed almost lost in thought and took a few moments before he answered. "I have once or twice, I suppose."

"And what did you do? How did you handle it?"

"It wasn't easy. You can't let it get to you, you have to fight it, fight to live, because in the end it's your life and you should be happy to be alive. Fight against every insecurity, every negative thought and just live your life for yourself and not anyone else. Find something that makes you happy and pursue it until you're happy to be alive."

She nodded, understanding exactly what he meant. "It shouldn't be this hard."

"No, but its life it's designed to be hard." Klaus smirked.

"So you want me to fight?" She asked, looking up at him.

His smirk faded into a straight line. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to, Caroline. But you have only lived two weeks as a vampire; you haven't really given it a chance. You would be surprised at what you are capable of doing."

"How old are you?"

"Over a thousand years old." He smiled warmly and his whole face lit up.

Caroline couldn't help but smile as well, "so then you're a good vampire to learn from?"

Klaus gave a small chuckle, "Yes, I guess I am."

"Well then, teach me." She said.

He stopped walking causing Caroline to turn and spin around to face him. Suddenly he was very serious, his mouth pressed into a hard line. "You have to promise me one thing." Klaus stated. "You have to fight; you cannot give up on yourself. I want you to fight for control, fight to be a better vampire, just fight. Do not give up on yourself."

Caroline nodded, "I promise."

"I only want the best for you."

"Why? What do you see in me?" She asked stupidly. "I'm just some girl you picked up on the side of the road."

Klaus just smirked, "that is a story for another day. Shall we continue?" He asked holding out his arm.

Caroline grabbed hold of his elbow. Neither said another word as they continued on their walk. They didn't have to, a comfortable silence had settled over them and for once Carline felt like she didn't have to fill it.

Oddly enough, Caroline felt better from the day before. Somehow being around Klaus had pushed all her emotions away and being in the country allowed her to feel peace. She wasn't at war with herself, she was simply living.

There was something about the man she was with; an air of intelligence and power about him. He seemed far from her league, especially for being around for so long. She couldn't understand why she interested him, out of every other girl on the planet. Caroline didn't mind, she would take all the interest that an attractive and powerful man like him could give her.

Caroline was going to make good on that promise. She was going to fight and not give up on herself. Caroline felt excited for what he had to offer her, excited for what she was going to learn. To learn what a vampire was truly capable of.

* * *

**A/N: What'd you think? Mad that Brooke wasn't really compelled? Happy with the Klaroline scenes? Mad about the Klaroline scenes? Let me know! **

**I just love bitchy Brooke, I'm sorry I had to set her free but she has a long and hard road ahead of her. I hate writing in the scenes from the show but I need them to know where we are with the whole Klaus/curse development in MF or else I would be completely and utterly lost. It's mostly going to be Klaroline now, YAY!**

**Thank you for reading, favoriting, following and reviewing! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. **


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: What's this? A new chapter after three weeks off? I'm terribly sorry for my absence but hopefully I made up for it with this very Klaroline chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter Eleven**

It had been a few days since Klaus and Caroline had arrived in England. Caroline had mostly stuck to herself, either sleeping or wandering around the grounds while Klaus either watched her or painted. She never knew he was there but he was always in the shadows watching and making sure she was safe.

Caroline found the beauty in everything and was enjoying herself as she walked around the endless property. With no one even close for miles it was safe for her to roam freely without any interference of the human variety. Klaus knew he would have to teach her control sooner or later but he was hoping to do that later.

So he had fresh supply of blood delivered daily for them and so far she had had excellent control and not over indulged herself in one sitting. Klaus was impressed and realized she was something special and would easy to train. He was hoping they would start training soon but had left that up for her to decide when she was ready.

Klaus was sitting at the kitchen table reading the local newspaper, a glass of blood and a decanter sat in front of him. It was early morning with the sun working its way into the sky. He felt his cell phone ringing in his back pocket and hastily removed it, peaking at the screen before answering.

"Hello 'Lijah"

"Niklaus," He said curtly. "Are you still interested in breaking the curse?"

"Of course I am, why do you ask, brother?" Klaus asked annoyed at such a silly question. He hadn't waited five hundred years and not break the curse.

"You seem to be distracted lately. I haven't heard from you in a few days." The older Mikaelson stated and Klaus could hear the annoyance in his voice.

Klaus rolled his eyes, thankful that his brother couldn't see him. "I've been busy."

"I see. Does this have anything to do with a blonde vampire?"

"How do you know about Caroline?" he asked confused.

Elijah chuckled on the other end, "so she has a name. Tell me, Niklaus, what do you plan to do with her? Does she have a purpose or are you simply keeping her around for pleasure."

"That is none of your business." Klaus snarled.

"Niklaus," Elijah warned. "I am not doing all your dirty work for you while you're off gallivanting with some girl you just met."

"This is important."

"More important than breaking the curse?" Elijah asked.

Klaus paused to think about the question. All he wanted for the past thousand years was to break the curse. Yet, as he caught sight of Caroline descending down the staircase and entering the kitchen looking like a beautiful mess he was almost willing to give everything up for her. Almost. His hunger for power and control was still his priority no matter who came into his life.

"Nothing, Brother." He replied as he watched Caroline dig around in the cupboards. He wanted to laugh at the vision in front of him, her blonde hair was sticking up all over the place and her makeup was smeared. She was wearing a thin pair of cotton shorts and a tank top, showing off her curves exquisitely.

"Alright, I'll let you know when everything is ready."

"Oh, I sent a little present for you. She should be in Mystic Falls by now; I would like to use her as the vampire for the sacrifice. Goes by Brooke now, find her and keep her, spent five hundred years chasing her, not about to let her go now." Klaus explained, still keeping his eye on Caroline who was sitting across from him now preparing her breakfast.

Without waiting for Elijah to reply Klaus hung up the phone and placed it in his back pocket. He gave Caroline a polite smile before returning back to his morning paper. Since they hadn't really spoken in the past few days, he was going to wait for her to speak first when she was ready.

Caroline was quietly eating cereal, hadn't yet touched the glass of blood in front of her. She had been playing it safe, barely taking what she needed to get through the day, not wanting to lose control.

"How come you sent Brooke to Mystic Falls?" Caroline asked out of the blue.

Klaus put down the newspaper and looked up at Caroline. She didn't look mad, just curious. "We have a little debt to settle."

"How could you compel her?"

"I'm an Original vampire, sweetheart. I am the oldest in the world, besides my brother, I can compel other vampires and over power them." He smirked.

"What's the thing with the curse and sacrifice?"

"I'd rather not play twenty questions right now." Klaus growled, unable to control his anger. He knew he had to tell her everything, but that moment was not idea, especially after his brother had successfully managed to get under his skin.

Caroline looked down at her breakfast embarrassed, "sorry."

Klaus immediately regretted the way he acted so he began to backtrack. "There is a sun and the moon curse and I would like to break it. I have been after it for over a thousand years. I came close five hundred years ago but the doppelganger turned herself into a vampire. I finally have the chance to break the curse."

"And Brooke is part of this how?"

"You need to sacrifice a vampire, werewolf, doppelganger and a witch to complete the spell." He answered and saw the wheels beginning to turn in her head, trying to figure out the workings of the curse.

"And all of this is in Mystic Falls?"

"Not quite." Klaus replied before adding, "Now why don't you finish up and we can start training today?"

"Okay," she smiled weakly at him before returning to the bowl in front of her to finish eating.

He watched Caroline finish her breakfast and when she was done he pushed the glass of blood in front of her. "I'd suggest you drink all of it if you want enough strength for our training session today."

Caroline nodded and pulled the glass towards her before picking it up and taking a sip. Klaus noted how she looked with her full vampire features, she was stunning. Then he noticed her face contort in pain and he immediately regretted putting the vervain in the blood.

He rushed to her side and was there in a second; she was doubled over screaming and coughing in pain as she clung to her throat. When all pain was gone she sat back up and turned to look at him. "What the hell was that?" Caroline yelled.

"Varvain, you need to build immunity to it. Also, it will hold me off from compelling you, not that I ever would do that." He explained.

"You could have told me first!"

"Would you have taken the blood if I had told you?"

Caroline folded her arms across her chest and leaned back against her chair, "no."

"Exactly." He poured her a fresh glass of blood that was vervain free and pushed it in front of her. "Drink up, you'll need your strength."

Caroline eyed it suspiciously and shook her head pushing the glass away. Klaus rolled his eyes at the childish behaviour before grabbing the blood and bringing it to his lips and took a sip. "No vervain." He set it back in front of her again.

This time she reached for the glass and downed the whole glass of blood, licking her lips when finished.

"Feel better?" He asked, that had been the first time in the days they had spent together that she had had that much blood. "It is best to keep up your strength. Although blood from the vein is better, this will do until you can control yourself."

"I'd rather stick to blood bags thank you," Caroline said as she got up to head back upstairs.

"Blood bags will never be enough, Caroline; you'll understand soon enough. Now go get ready we're wasting time standing here chit chatting." He instructed.

Caroline nodded and turned her back on Klaus and headed back towards her bedroom. Klaus listened to the sounds of her feet climbing up the stairs and head into her bedroom. She headed straight into the bathroom and turned on the shower.

Klaus shook his head trying to get rid of the guilty feelings he was having. After the talk with his brother he was feeling conflicted and frustrated and took it out on Caroline without meaning to. He was harsher than he meant to but he wasn't used to people questioning and defying him so blatantly.

He cleaned up the mess in the kitchen, setting things in the sink and the vervain blood back into the fridge for later. Klaus headed to his own room to clean up and prepare for the day of training ahead.

* * *

Caroline grumbled all the way up the stairs into her bedroom and shower. Once finished cleaning up she found her way to the small closet that held her few pieces of clothing. On the second day of arriving, Klaus had provided her with more clothes but didn't elaborate on where he got them from.

She riffled through the hanging clothes in the cramped closet and settled on a white tank top and black yoga pants. She threw a light blue sweater on over top, unaware of the weather forecast for the proceeding day.

After checking her appearance and applying minimal make up and putting her hair up in a ponytail, Caroline flashed downstairs and outside to where Klaus was patiently waiting.

"What's on the agenda for today?" She questioned when she noticed he was wearing a pair of black track pants and a white, paint-stained Henley. She let her eyes rake down his body, suddenly taking notice of the creature in front of her.

"How are you at fighting?" He asked in return with a smirk, noticing her noticing him.

"I don't know, I mean I got into a fight with Lisa Murray one year when she tried to steal my spot on the cheer team, but that was all hair pulling and pushing." Caroline shrugged.

Klaus laughed at the comment, "I'll teach you how to really fight, and we'll work on that first and go from there." She nodded with a small smile, "shall we?" he asked holding out his hand.

Caroline nodded and followed Klaus as he began walking away from the little cottage. The two walked in silence until Caroline, who was feeling more like herself, grew annoyed and said something.

"So if you're like a thousand years old, you got to be rich right?" She questioned catching Klaus off guard.

Klaus stopped and looked at her, causing Caroline to stop to look up at him. He had this look on his face, and because she didn't even know the man she couldn't decipher the meaning behind it; although if she were to guess it would be of intrigue and curiosity.

"I suppose so, why do you ask?"

"Well it's just we're staying in this little cottage, and I'm not complaining, but the closet barely fits all my clothes and I don't even have that much! I thought you were going to show me the world or whatever you said in that speech a few weeks ago! Was that some line that you use on all helpless girls? Or are you serious?" She rambled with a stomp of her foot and arms crossed looking extremely serious.

Klaus chuckled at the sight before him and took a step towards Caroline. "I brought you out here for some peace of mind, to give you time to learn to fight and control yourself. Give me a week here and then I'll show you the world. Maybe start off in London?"

Caroline managed a smile and uncrossed her arms as she pointed a finger at him, "one week and that's all I'm giving you. But I was thinking about Spain first." She smirked and turned on her heal to walk away but Klaus appeared beside her in an instant.

"Anywhere you want to go, love, and I'll take you." He replied and grabbed her arm to take her to a secret location.

Caroline was barely able to keep up with him, she managed though, partly to him slowing his pace. She saw the scenery blur around her and soon they were inside a small clearing of a forest. Klaus stopped suddenly causing Caroline to run into his back. She placed her hands in front of her to push herself away from him but was surprised when her fingers brushed against his hard muscular back.

Without letting her hands wander, Caroline pushed back, separating herself from Klaus. She looked around but without much surprise found that forests in England were exactly like the ones in America.

Caroline crossed her arms again waiting for his instructions while Klaus set down a duffle bag which she didn't notice he had. It was open and she managed to peek inside from her spot and saw various tools, most of them wooden.

"I am not looking forward to this," she whispered to herself.

Klaus must have heard her because he responded, "I am." He turned and he was smirking at her with a glint of amusement in his blue eyes.

Caroline inwardly groaned and crossed her arms across her chest, her go to move for when she was angry or uncomfortable. Klaus walked the few steps towards her so they were within a foot of each other. Close enough for Caroline to notice every single detail of his facial features.

"Let's start by showing me what you can do," he suggested with a smirk as he held up his hands.

Caroline took a step back and then put one foot forward as she got into the position. She pulled her right hand back once it was settled into a fist and threw the punch forward into his left hand.

As soon as her fist collided with his hand she felt a sharp pain radiate through her hand and up her arm. Caroline pulled back and shook her hand out waiting for the pain to subside.

Klaus reached forward and grabbed the pained wrist and pulled her towards him. He ran his thumb over the top of her hand trying to sooth the pain away.

Caroline felt blots of electricity run between them from where their hands merely touched. She pulled her hand away from his, "you're like a brick wall!"

"And you punch like a girl," Klaus teased. Caroline pouted but he seemed to ignore her as he reached forward again and grabbed her right wrist. "Thumb goes on the outside; otherwise you'll end up with a broken thumb." He folded her hand into a fist, making sure her thumb was, in fact, on the outside.

Klaus let go of her hand and moved so he was behind her. Caroline tensed, unsure of his actions. "What are you doing?" She questioned, feeling her supposedly dead heartbeat begin to speed up.

He ignored her as he ran his hand down her forearm and clasped it over top of her fist. His body was pressed to hers, his front to her back. She had to resist her urge to lean back against him.

It had been a long time since she had been with someone and with her being a vampire she realized she had little to no control when it concerned her sexual urges and needs.

Klaus leaned forward so her mouth was beside her ear, "I'm showing you how to properly throw a punch, sweetheart."

Caroline felt her breathing hitch when she felt his breath hit her ear as he replied. Klaus seemed to ignore her squirming under his grasp as his other hand slid down her side to her leg.

"Move this leg back and put all your weight on it." Caroline followed his instructions, moving her left foot behind her and her right foot slightly forward. "Perfect," he purred in her ear. "Now when you throw your punch you transfer all your weight from your back foot to your front foot and put all your strength into the punch."

She nodded slightly. Klaus moved her hand that he was holding onto back as his other hand held onto her hip. "On the count of three you're going to throw your best punch at me." He instructed as he moved away from her and back to his previous position in front of her.

Caroline missed the warmth that his body provided but tried focusing on the man in front of her instead. She noticed the way is eye brows crinkled in seriousness and concentration. Him being in such close proximity allowed her to study all his facial features better than before. What she found she noticed that she liked, especially the light stubble that lined his jaw.

She took a steadying breath trying to get her focus back on the task at hand. Klaus was counting down already, "three…two…one."

Caroline used all her force and threw all her weight from back foot to front foot as she extended her arm and punched the hand that he was holding up. This time she was met with minimal pain and saw his hand move back slightly from her force.

She smiled up at him proudly and even Klaus had a smile. "Excellent, do it again."

* * *

Klaus noticed the night was beginning to fall and he was surprisingly happy with the progress Caroline had made. She had successfully been able to throw a punch with both hands and had a superior right hook. They engaged in fist fights, him often winning being that his strength was superior to hers. She had caught on quickly and was an excellent student, always asking questions and modifying her strategies.

The sun was slowly setting casting an orange glow across the sky. Caroline was taking a water break, her clothes which had turned into a sports bra and shorts clung to her sweaty body.

Klaus himself was in only his pair of black track pants, mostly as a ploy to distract Caroline. On more than one occasion he had caught her staring down his body but he didn't mind, it only worked to his benefit.

"I think it's time we call it a day, love." He said as he approached her.

"Thank god!" Caroline praised throwing her head back and hands in the air like she was actually praising god.

Klaus chuckled and turned his back so he could pick up the bag that sat unused on the edge of the clearing. He picked it up and then picked his discarded shirt up from the rock where Caroline was standing.

While she was distracted with pulling her shirt over her head Klaus took the quick opportunity to gaze over her slender body. He committed every visible inch of skin to memory, not knowing when he would see it again.

"Ready to head back?" Klaus asked once she had gathered all her things from the ground. Caroline nodded and led the way out of the forest to the expansive grounds.

They walked back to the house at a leisurely pace. "You did really well today."

"Thanks, it was sort of easy after a while." She admitted.

"Tomorrow I won't be making it easy, we'll be using stakes and there may be a lot of bleeding." He smirked knowing exactly what he had planned for the next day.

Caroline frowned, "great."

Klaus stopped and reached out to make her stop as well. She looked at him confused, her perfectly manicured eyebrows furrowed. "I'm doing this for you, Caroline. You don't know what you'll face in the future but if I can help you even the slightest, for anytime that I may not be around to protect you, I will do it. I only want the best and you deserve how to protect yourself."

Caroline nodded, realizing the seriousness of his statement. Klaus graced her with a smile and began walking back to the house. He heard Caroline run to catch up with him but instead of stopping she used her supernatural speed and ran past him.

Klaus smirked as he followed her, easily catching up to her and grabbed her waist as he tackled her to the ground. However before she reached the ground, he rolled them over so she landed on top of him.

Caroline began to laugh hysterically with Klaus following suit, finding her laugh undeniable. "Going somewhere?" He asked when he had finally calmed down enough to form a sentence.

"Nowhere of importance; just trying to outrun an Original vampire," she quipped smiling down at him.

"I'm afraid you won't be able to out run me," Klaus smirked, he had over a thousand years on her and there was no way she could outrun him.

Caroline looked down with a smirk of her own and she leaned closer. Her nose brushed with his and he sucked in a breathe realizing how close she was to him. She closed her eyes as she closed in on him, her lips slightly pursed. Klaus closed his eyes, excited for the inevitable.

He waited for her lips to touch his but it never came; instead he felt a sudden coldness. He opened his eyes to see she was gone and briefly saw her slim figure in the distance.

Klaus pushed himself up and followed after her at a slower pace than he was capable of, letting her win this little game of hers. When he reached the cottage he found the doors locked and heard Caroline laughing in the window.

"Caroline, love, you might want to let me in." He said trying to sound angry but couldn't help but grin.

"I don't think so," she replied from behind the window. The next second she was gone and he heard her scramble around the kitchen cupboards before music began play very loudly over his sound system. The curtains were drawn so he saw clearly inside to a scantily clad Caroline dancing around with a very old bottle of scotch in her hands.

She took a sip, grimacing in the taste then waved it out in front of her. "Want it?" She smirked, playing a game with him. Klaus nodded and took a step forward. "Come get it." She added before turning her back and began to dance, swinging her hips to the music.

Klaus watched from outside as Caroline bounced around the cottage drinking the scotch that he was saving for an important occasion. He didn't mind though, he would give her anything that she wanted.

He was taken back to one of the nights when he had first interacted with her. He bought her a bottle of tequila and watched from the bar as she danced in the very loud club. Klaus smiled to himself as he reminisced on fond memories from only weeks ago.

As he stood watching Caroline had her own fun he heard cackling in the sky, not noticing the clouds appear overhead darkening the bright sky of only few minutes before. The day had been graced with heat and sun and now they were getting rain.

The sky opened up allowing the rain to fall down, not lightly but hard and all at once. He was quickly soaked to the core and felt the cool rain fall down his chest, sending shivers down his spine.

"Sweetheart, I think it's time you allow me to come inside!" He shouted and watched as she turned around and began laughing when she saw he was stuck in the rain. "You do realize that this is my house, don't you?"

Surprisingly he wasn't angry at her antics but found it refreshing. He couldn't remember the last time that he laughed or had fun with someone. It probably never happened in all his thousand years of life.

* * *

Caroline laughed when she saw Klaus standing outside in the rain. It wasn't spitting but a harsh downpour. His hair fell forward onto his forehead, his curls matted down. Her eyes raked over his hard chest, appreciating the sight.

She liked her lips before taking a sip of the scotch, scrunching her nose up at the after taste. Caroline strode over to the door and opened it slowly only to have her pushed backwards against the wall staring up at an angry Klaus.

One hand was pressed against her neck while the other holding onto her waste holding her against to the wall. His eyes were dark with anger, his fang out. "Don't you ever do something like that again," he growled.

"I-I'm sorry," Caroline stuttered, realizing that leaving him out in the rain was probably not a good idea.

A smirk spread across his lips and he broke out into laughter causing Caroline to look at him in confusion. His fangs retracted with his face returning to normal. They were within inches of each other and Caroline felt every inch where their bodies touched.

Klaus let go of her neck and ran his hand down her arm to where the bottle of scotch was. He took it from her hands and turned his head to slowly bring the bottle up to his lips.

"The least you can do, sweetheart, is share." He said smirking at her as he back away, taking another sip from the bottle.

"Ugh, you got me wet!" Caroline groaned, brushing herself off.

Klaus grinned, "it's only fair, love, you did lock me out in the rain."

Caroline rolled her eyes as she pushed past him and into the kitchen where she rooted around in the top cupboards. Klaus joined her, leaning against the counter, watching her. When she found what she was looking for she pulled out an unopened bottle of gin. "Do you mind if I have some"

"Go ahead, it's all yours," he said with a wave of the hand.

Caroline smiled as she unscrewed the top and took a long slug of the alcohol. Gin wasn't normally her thing, but Klaus was like an old man, only stocked up on scotch and gin. She was a typical teenager and had a fancy for run, vodka or tequila. However, she would drink anything to give her that buzz that she craved.

"Thanks," She said between gulps of gin. "I was told that alcohol really helps with the cravings, and I'm having strong ones right now."

"Cravings for blood?" He questioned which she nodded in response.

Klaus didn't say anything more but turned his back and walked the few steps towards the fridge. He opened it and grabbed the glass jug of blood and poured two glasses. After pushing one towards her, he took a sip of his.

Caroline eyed it nervously, questioning her control. Klaus seemed to notice because he took two steps towards her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, giving it a small squeeze.

"It's alright, drink up." He prodded but Caroline didn't move. "It'll be fine, I promise. If you limit yourself to one glass at a time you won't lose control. When it's gone it's gone, I'll stop you if you try to get a hold of anymore."

Caroline nodded but was still hesitant. It helped that he was there by her side, willing to help if she were to lose control and found comfort in his presence.

The smell of the blood was getting to her and she couldn't hold off anymore. Caroline reached out for the glass and slowly brought it to her lips. She drank it slowly, reveling in the taste and the feeling of euphoria it brought her.

When she was finished she slammed the glass down on the counter in disappointment. Klaus grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the kitchen and into the sitting room where the radio was still blasting. He took a long sip from the scotch with Caroline following his actions.

"Dance, Caroline!" He yelled over the music.

She smirked and began to sway her hips. Caroline grinned when she turned around and backed up, bringing her backside to Klaus' front side. She felt him startle, taking a step backwards in surprise before gaining his control.

One hand gripped her hip and brought her back towards her so she was grinding up against him. His other hand that held the bottle of scotch rested against her stomach.

After a few minutes Klaus leaned forward, his head resting beside hers. "Your mind off the hunger you feel?" He whispered into her ear.

Caroline nodded, her mind now clouded with not only with alcohol but lust. She couldn't think straight, nor form a sentence. All she could think about was her body pressed against his and his lips so close to hers that if she turned her head slightly she would be able to kiss him.

Before she could act on her impulses, Caroline brought the bottle up to her lips again, draining the remaining liquid. She turned around so she was facing him and stepped up on her tippy toes so her mouth was beside his ear. "I feel much better now, thank you."

Caroline pulled back slightly so she could kiss his cheek. She bit her lip as she pulled all the way back and distanced herself form Klaus. She placed the empty bottle on a side table and practically ran up the stairs and into her bedroom.

She reflected on the day's events as she tried to get her racing heart under control. Caroline flopped back onto the bed groaning, she was going to have trouble with controlling herself around Klaus. She was not looking forward to tomorrow where they would be training again.

Something told her that tonight had just been the beginning of things between them. The tip of the ice berg.

* * *

**A/N: Really? A whole chapter of just Klaroline? What'd you think? What's to come?**

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I really did struggle with the beginning (mainly the Elijah and Klaus chat) but after i pushed through it all came out smoothly. I really needed just a whole Klaroline chapter, which I'm hoping you enjoyed. **

**Also, I started another fic, State of Grace, which is really light hearted and fun and Klaroline, Kennet and Stebekah. So check it out if you're interested. **

**I'm hoping to update once a week, I really hate leaving you guys hanging so from hear on out I will try and never do that to you again. I hope I made it up to you with all the Klaroline. **


	13. Author's Note

I hate to do this but I am officially putting this fic on hiatus. I will try and write more of it but lately I have been lacking any inspiration for Born to Run. I have the rest of the fic planned out, it's just having to write it down. It's hard trying to sync it up with season 2, so I may be straying a bit when I do eventually continue it. I hope I'm not a quitter and will be able to finish this because it is my first klaroline fic, so I want to do right by it.

I am incredibly sorry for this and making you wait endless months for a new chapter, and this isn't it. State of Grace (another fic I'm working on) had become center stage in my life because it is easier to write. But I'm going to try and add little by little to the story and hopefully have a new chapter out soon-ish.

A thousand apologies, I hope you all don't hate me and forgive and wait patiently for the next chapter. I promise it will come, I just don't know when. I'll see y'all soon!


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